India vs England T20: Manoj Tiwary slams Virat Kohli for excluding Rohit Sharma

A Rohit Sharma-less Team India suffered an eight-wicket hammering at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to go 0-1 down in the five-match T20I series. Batting first, India’s top order was shattered early with the top three accounting for just five runs between them. Shreyas Iyer later became the lone wolf of batting as he smacked an imperial counter-attacking fifty against Jofra Archer & co.

India vs England T20: Indians lose series opener at Ahmedabad

India vs England T20: Manoj Tiwary questions Virat Kohli’s selection tactic

While speaking with the Inside Sport, Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwary expressed his surprised after captain Virat Kohli dropped opening batsman Rohit Sharma from the playing XI against England. Tiwary said that Kohli’s latest selection tactic came as a “huge shock” to him. According to the 35-year-old, a batsman like Rohit Sharma should be given “maximum chances” before the T20 World Cup, especially considering the kind of batting form he is in.

Manoj Tiwary claimed that he is not a “great believer of rotation policy”. According to him, the “best XI” should always be playing for India. He added that he does not understand why the Indian team still does not have a settled playing XI despite having some of the “finest cricketers” on their side.

India vs England T20 highlights

Virat Kohli opted with Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul as India’s opening pair in the absence of Sharma. While Shikhar Dhawan was dismissed for just 4, KL Rahul managed a run while the captain himself fell for another duck against England. Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer anchored the innings with a superlative 67 from just 48 balls to take India to 124-7 from their 20 overs.

In response, the visitors overhauled India’s total with four and a half overs to spare. Jason Roy top-scored for England with 49 while his opening partner Jos Buttler smashed 28. Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow played the finishing role to take their side 1-0 up in the series. India’s RCB bound spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar took the only two wickets that fell during England’s run-chase.

India vs England 2nd T20I

England’s tour of India will now continue with the second T20I of the series at the same venue. The match is scheduled to be played on Sunday, March 14 and the action will commence from 7:00 PM IST onwards. The series will be followed by a set of three ODI matches in Pune.

Image source: PTI and BCCI Twitter