India started their white-ball leg of the West Indies tour on a high as they defeated the hosts soundly in the first ODI of the three-match series which was played at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on July 27, 2023.
West Indies was blown away on a slow and spin-friendly pitch by India for just 114 runs with Kuldeep Yadav taking 4/6 and Ravindra Jadeja taking 3 wickets. In response, India reached the target in just 22.5 overs with Ishan Kishan top-scoring with 52 and won the match by 5 wickets.
However, during the match, eagle-eyed fans caught Suryakumar Yadav wearing a jersey with Sanju Samson’s name and number on it and wondered what led to this happening.
Now as per Indian Express reports, jersey size issue led to this incident as Suryakumar Yadav, on the eve of the game, informed the team management that the size of jerseys he got were too small as he requested a large size, but received a medium.
Though he managed to do a photoshoot with it, he had requested a change in his jersey size.
However, there was no instant replacement for Suryakumar and he requested Sanju Samson to lend him his jersey as he was not playing in the first ODI. As per the rule, players cannot tape the names printed behind their jersey so Yadav had no choice other than to wear the T-shirt with Samson’s name at the back.
Also, the report stated that Suryakumar Yadav will be provided with the correct size jersey only after the second ODI and he will have no option but to continue wearing his teammate’s clothes.
“There was some size issue with his jersey. We were told about it two days before the game. He will be receiving his new jersey after the second ODI as the BCCI has shipped it with Indian team players selected for the T20 series. Till then he will be wearing his teammate jersey while playing,” a BCCI source said.
It is learnt few other players had size issues and they too will be getting replacements soon. Even during the recently concluded Duleep Trophy in Bengaluru, a few of the players had issues with their t-shirt size and wore borrowed ones from their teammates.
(Indian Express inputs)
