Ex-India opener picks his India playing XI for first ODI against Sri Lanka, leaves out Suryakumar Yadav

The men in blue under the captaincy of full-time skipper Rohit Sharma are set to take on Sri Lanka in the first of the three-match ODI series at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. Both teams will play this match Tuesday, the 10^th of January. Earlier, the men in blue registered a convincing 2-1 win against the visitors in the recently-concluded T20I series under the captaincy of stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya.

Advertisment

After the conclusion of the T20I series, there is a conundrum for the management to pick the best XI for the first ODI of the three-match series. Meanwhile, the former Indian opener currently a commentator, Aakash Chopra has come up with his playing XI of India for the series opener between the hosts and the Islanders.

The 45-year-old felt that it won’t be an easy task for skipper Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid to finalize the best playing XI for the Guwahati ODI against Dasun Shanaka’s men. While speaking in one of his YouTube videos, Chopra picked his predicted XI of the men in blue for the series opener.

“Ishan Kishan has recently slammed a double hundred so you cannot bench him. You cannot drop him and if he opens with Rohit, then there will be no place for Shubman Gill and we have to accept this fact,” said Chopra while speaking about the top order of the Indian batting lineup.

Advertisment

Later on, cricketer-turned-commentator Chopra also talked about the middle order of team India. Subsequently, he couldn’t fit in the World's number one T20I batter and star Indian batting sensation Suryakumar Yadav in his picked XI’s middle order.

There is no place left for Suryakumar Yadav - Aakash Chopra

“Kohli will play at No. 3, it has been his forte. But for No. 4, the toss-up will be between Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. The latter was the vice-captain in the Bangladesh series and has scored decently. Though he struggled in Tests, his ODI numbers are good. And also, a player who has been your captain and vice-captain in the previous series cannot be dropped so easily. And at the same time, Iyer has been absolutely outstanding in 2022 and his spot shouldn’t be altered. He is gold in the ODIs.

Since Hardik Pandya is also available and his position at No. 6 is a no-brainer. Someone has to bowl from your top 6 and he is also the newly-appointed vice-captain. So, he is indispensable, which means there is no place left for Suryakumar Yadav,” he added later.