India and England play the series decider today at Bristol, with both teams winning one match each in the T20I series. India hammered England in the 1st match by 8 wickets at Old Trafford, while England fought back with a 5-wicket win at Cardiff.
Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and chose to bowl first on a greenish pitch. He announced two changes to the XI, Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed out due to a stiff back while Kuldeep Yadav was left out keeping the short straight boundaries in mind. Siddharth Kaul and debutant Deepak Chahar come in to the XI for the all important match. England brought in Ben Stokes for Joe Root.
Kuldeep Yadav had picked a 5-wicket haul in the first match of the series and none of the England batsmen could read his variations. England fared much better in the Cardiff T20I where they didn't concede any wickets to the wrist spinner.
Speaking on the decision to drop Kuldeep Yadav, Virat Kohli said, "Looking at the dimensions and the breeze flowing, we thought we will play an extra seamer. You have to weigh your options. What the best balance of the side would be. Unfortunate for Kuldeep to miss out but he has three ODI games left and he is as lethal as he has ever been. It is just about the balance of the side."
Twitterati wasn't too impressed by the decision or the justification put up by Virat Kohli on the decision to leave out Kuldeep from the team. Here are some of the reactions:
More than half the bowling line up missing. Bumrah and Bhuvi to injuries. Kuldeep.....to the pitch and the short straight boundaries? ???? He won India the game in the first T20i. #ENGvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 8, 2018
Kuldeep Yadav and Dinesh Karthik are warming the bench. Kohli is anything but serious about winning this series #IndvsEng
— Ashu (@ashu048) July 8, 2018
Isn't it foolishness to leave out #KuldeepYadav or prefer #Chahal over him in todays #INDvsENG match, who single handly wrapped #England team in 1st #T20I to win the match? Although good to see Deepak Chahar & #SiddharthKaul in today's match vs England in Bristol. #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/PirlAb7QWT
— Sunil Sanjan (@sunilsanjan) July 8, 2018
How do you undermine talent of an individual and rob him of an opportunity to showcase skill in difficult conditions?
— Abhishek Baxi (@baxiabhishek) July 8, 2018
Kohli drops Kuldeep Yadav because "look, some grass!" #ENGvIND
Next time you take 5 wickets in a match - get ready to sit in the bench!! Is Kuldeep Yadav injured? https://t.co/mqiMOYU7Gp
— C O N F U J I T (@SurajitTweet) July 8, 2018
Why Kohli always prefers Chahal over Kuldeep Yadav is something I would never understand . That fella took 5 damn wickets in first match . He didn't deserve to get dropped after a single match failure.
— Manik Gupta (@ManikGup92) July 8, 2018
Virat is too insecure .
What??? Kuldeep Yadav left out for chahar? This is a spin friendly surface so you gotta play your spinner who went through this England side like a ripper!
— Varun Garg ???????? (@IamV_Garg) July 8, 2018
Isn't it just a surprise tactic to play 2 new seamers.. out of the syllabus questions? #India #INDvsENG #ENGvIND #ENG #
My only question is why Kuldeep Yadav every time,why not Chahal.#ENGvIND
— Aayushi Rathi ???????? (@aayushi07rathi) July 8, 2018
Kuldeep yadav takes a five-for in his first game, has a poor second game, and is dropped. Wow. #INDvENG #ENGvsIND
— Bihan Sengupta (@BihanSengupta91) July 8, 2018
Big day for Deepak Chahar to make his debut today, but Kuldeep Yadav's exclusion baffles me after just one game which he went wicketless. #ENGvIND
— Gagan Thakur (@gagan_gt) July 8, 2018