On Friday, Indian players had a team huddle where as many as five players were handed their caps. However, there was one player who was missing, and social media spotted it immediately. Karnataka batsman Devdutt Padikkal was the player left out in the third ODI and Twitter users were dejected with his exclusion.
Team India is going in with five debutantes viz. Sanju Samson, Chetan Sakariya, Krishnappa Gowtham, Nitish Rana & Rahul Chahar. Although a couple of them have played in T20I’s prior to this, it will be their first ODI match for India. Most of them made their mark on the selectors through IPL performances.
One such player who impressed for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL was Devdutt Padikkal. He was flamboyant in his shots and also had a calm head on his shoulders. After being selected for the Sri Lankan tour, Padikkal was expected to make his debut in the ODI series. Granted it was far-fetched with Prithvi Shaw in the team. However, his chances increased after India basically claimed an unassailable 2-0 lead after the second ODI.
But it wasn’t to be. India stuck with their opening combo of skipper Shikhar Dhawan and Shaw, shutting the door on Padikkal. Fans were left wondering why the left-handed Padikkal didn’t get an opportunity ahead of Nitish Rana. Following Shaw, Padikkal was the next highest scorer in the Vijay Hazare trophy. Therefore, it might have made more sense to include him in place of the KKR batsman.
It could be because Rana is much older than the 21-year-old Karnataka batsman, and his playing window might run out soon. However, users on Twitter weren’t satisfied with the decision to leave out Devdutt Padikkal. They were frustrated and saddened at the same time.
Here are some of the reactions:
It was meaningless for Shikhar Dhawan to play this match. All of the debutantes are deserving but Devdutt also deserved to make his debut. It's not a recency bias, he has been performing since 2019 domestic season and averages 85. No one is asking for sympathy debut. He deserves!
— Ricky talks Cricket (@CricRicky) July 23, 2021
Devdutt Paddikal
Had to debut today
Thats it .#Devduttpadikkal— Siddhant Sunil (@Siddhant1802003) July 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/ForeverVirat018/status/1418510441341280260?s=20
https://twitter.com/AdityaLamba19/status/1418511966574833667?s=20
https://twitter.com/Dhawanswarrior/status/1418503999699918850?s=20
I think India should have gone ahead with Devdutt or Ruturaj instead of Hardik..
Got to see them when the flow is good and when conditions aid them… pic.twitter.com/KZHpfvGEw7
— [email protected] (@learnzonepluss) July 23, 2021
Now you can understand why Rahul Dravid running agenda against Devdutt Paddikal pic.twitter.com/cy9IIQqVtY
— Sanket (@sanket7262) July 23, 2021
5 players are making debut today and Devdutt isn't one of them. Wtf 😭😭
— Spidey (@MrStarksPeter) July 23, 2021
https://twitter.com/Ship_To_Wreck_/status/1418506982105829388?s=20
https://twitter.com/NM18___/status/1418522080685953031?s=20
