Arshdeep Singh is India’s leading wicket-taker in T20Is. The left-arm quick has 101 wickets to his name in 65 T20I matches played so far.
Despite his impressive record in the shortest format, Arshdeep was ignored for the first T20I of the ongoing five-match series against Australia. In his place, the Indian team management opted to go with Harshit Rana in the series opener at Canberra on Wednesday (October 29).
The Indian team management’s decision to drop Arshdeep for Harshit has left fans shocked and they criticized the decision on social media.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan also questioned the call, with a tweet of merely Arshdeep Singh’s name.
Here’s how the netizens reacted:
Arshdeep was left out of India’s playing XI for the third ODI against Australia in Sydney as well. In his absence, Harshit returned with the figures of 4 for 29 in his 8.4 overs.
India’s Playing XI for first T20I: Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Australia’s Playing XI for first T20I: Mitchell Marsh (C), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (WK), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Philippe, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Josh Hazlewood
