Rohit Sharma to miss 'couple of games' against England; Suryakumar benched for 1st T20

Moments before the first T20 of the 5-match series against England, Team India skipper Virat Kohli has confirmed that Rohit Sharma has been benched for the first few games. Highlighting that the swashbuckling opener has been rested and is not injured, Kohli said that Rohit Sharma will miss the first 'couple of games'. With the T20 World Cup in hindsight, the decision to rest Rohit Sharma can be to test the bench strength of the squad with several newcomers being included. 

IPL 2020 star Suryakumar Yadav will also have to wait for his India debut as the southpaw has been excluded from the playing XI, with Shreyas Iyer being brought in. In place of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan will be opening the innings with KL Rahul. India's playing XI for the first T20 includes three spinners - Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal - as Rahul Tewatia and Varun Chakravarthy failed to clear the fitness Test. The match will also see Hardik Pandya return to action. 

England win the toss

England has won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Narendra Modi Stadium. "Looks a good wicket with a covering of grass. A little bit of dew later on. Going to be an evenly-poised contest. The opportunity to play in India against a very strong side with the World Cup later this year, we're really excited. The key is to evolve in our game. Five T20Is at this ground, it's going to turn at some stage and we have to be smarter. That's one aspect of our game that we're trying to evolve," said skipper Morgan after winning the toss. 

Kohli had also wished to bowl first in Ahmedabad. Explaining his reasons, the Indian skipper said, "Dew is going to be a massive factor in the second half. Got to get into the game with the ball and restrict them. We were planning to do things like batting first in these conditions where bowling in the dew becomes a factor. It's a good way to prepare for the World Cup. The next few months will be important from a team environment."

Image Credit: AP