IND vs AFG 1st T20I: India opt to field, no place for Sanju Samson in playing XI, Yashasvi Jaiswal also misses out

In the cold and chilly conditions of Mohali, India won the toss and chose to field first against Afghanistan in the 1st T20I of the three-match series. The skipper, Rohit Sharma, who made his comeback to the shortest format after 14 months, surprised everyone by revealing the players who would be missing from the playing XI.

At the toss, the 'Hitman' opted to bowl first and explained, "No particular reason, the pitch is good and it doesn't change much here. A lot to gain from the 3 games, we haven't had too much T20 cricket leading to the World Cup, and there's IPL, but this is an international game and we'll try to achieve a few things."

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Rohit mentioned discussing the team's combination: "I had a chat with Rahul bhai (Dravid) regarding the combination in the future and what we need to do as a group. That's what we'll try to do, but winning is the most important thing. Sanju Samson, Avesh, Yashasvi (who didn't pull off well), and Kuldeep miss out."

This combination surprised many, especially considering Sanju Samson's recent form after scoring a century in his last ODI game against South Africa. Rahul Dravid had also mentioned on the eve of the match that Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal would open the innings. The decision sparked discussions among netizens on social media, particularly X (formerly known as Twitter).

As for the Afghan side, their captain Ibrahim Zadran had said they too wanted to bowl first. For them, Noor Ahamad, Sharafuddin, Saleem Saifi and Rashid Khan are not playing.

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Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(w), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Rahmat Shah, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman