IND vs SL: Why is Washington Sundar Not Playing Today’s India vs Sri Lanka 1st T20I Match?

India have kick-started their home season with the first T20I against Sri Lanka under the new captain Hardik Pandya in one of the best T20I stadiums in the world in Mumbai. India have handed over debuts to 2 players and are playing with a high volatile bowling attack.

IND vs SL: Washington Sundar benched for Axar Patel

Hardik Pandya likes bowlers who can bat and batsmen who can bowl but he didn’t prefer Washington Sundar in the first match of the series. One can understand the omission of Washington Sundar as the Wankhede ground aids faster bowlers more than spinners. It is not an easy track for a conventional spinner to bowl, especially if dew makes a presence.

India also have Deepak Hooda who can bowl some part time off spinner, and he completes the spin attack that already has a wrist spinner and a slow left arm orthodox in Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel respectively. The fans on twitter expressed their disappointment over the exclusion of Washington Sundar

Most things are fine with the Indian playing XI, but I am not sure what they are going to achieve from playing Deepak Hooda at 6. Washington Sundar is a much better asset for that lower middle-order batter + 4-overs bowling bank now. #INDvSL

— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) January 3, 2023

No Washington Sundar… I'm too Surprised pic.twitter.com/alZpEYFwqN

— Sahil Gulati (@SahilGulati018) January 3, 2023

Leaving at Washington sundar . He was our best batter in new Zealand . Crazy stuff . Samson inclusion is ok . But dropping @Sundarwashi5 is not justifiable

— sainath (@s_sainathan) January 3, 2023

Why is Chahal still in our plans! He didn’t play the WC and after the World Cup he straight on settles in the XI. And surprisingly you drop Washington Sundar. Amazing @BCCI

— Sourav Sinha (@sourav_sinha) January 3, 2023

Sri Lanka have won the toss and asked India to bat first in this venue which favors the team batting 2^nd by a big margin.

India would be wanting to build their batting order from scratch with respect to the T20I side as the senior players like KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have fallen out of favor at the moment. The next T20 world cup is in 2024 in West Indies.

Can Shivam Mavi impress on his debut?

Shivam Mavi has been handed over a debut, Hardik Pandya revealed that Arshdeep Singh was unavailable for selection which has made the choice to go with Shivam Mavi pretty easy.

Shivam Mavi has already shown at the IPL level that he is a capable bowler with the new ball who could swing the ball both the ways in powerplay. He also has a potent yorker. He has a huge chance to impress one and all, as India have clearly moved on from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the fact that Deepak Chahar who is the first choice new ball specialist is injury prone, Shivam Mavi has everything to play for.