Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant’s exclusion from India’s eleven in the first ODI was a talking point on Sunday as India kick started the 3-ODI series against hosts Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Litton Das won the toss and elected to field first. Das is leading the home side in the absence of Tamim Iqbal, who has sustained a groin injury ahead of this series.
Meanwhile, India have their three seniors – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul – back after being rested from the New Zealand tour. However, the lower-order and the bowling department is far from India’s best side with Bumrah, Shami, and Jadeja all three injured and Hardik Pandya rested.
Rishabh Pant, who has been felt as the first-choice keeper-batter in the ODI eleven, was also missing from the 1st ODI. Rohit Sharma mentioned at the toss that KL Rahul will be taking the wicket-keeping gloves.
While the initial reaction of the fans was that Rishabh Pant has been dropped considering his lean run in Australia and New Zealand, that is not the case.
Rishabh Pant is ruled out of the ODI series due to undisclosed medical reasons
Soon after the toss, the BCCI revealed that Rishabh Pant has not been dropped, but instead because of a medical reason, the 25-year-old is not available to play and has been “released” from the squad for the ODI series, but will rejoin the team for the 2 Tests that will follow. The board’s Twitter handle announcement, though, didn’t reveal whether Pant has sustained any injury or it is any other medical issue.
“In consultation with the BCCI Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought,” the BCCI tweeted.
Spinning all-rounder Axar Patel also was not available for selection as India then went with Shahbaz Ahmed at number 7.
🚨 UPDATE
In consultation with the BCCI Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought
Axar Patel was not available for selection for the first ODI.#TeamIndia | #BANvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2022
Rishabh Pant had been struggling for runs in recent matches; in his last 6 innings across the two white-ball formats, the left-hander has not scored more than 15 runs in any innings.
Pacer Kuldeep Sen makes his ODI debut today.
Teams:
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Litton Das(c), Anamul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Ebadot Hossain
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Sen
