Star pacer Mohammed Shami missed out on a place in the playing XI for the 1st T20I against England, which India won by 7 wickets at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. Shami, who last played for India in November 2023, was expected to make his return for the team after 14 long months. But, he was sidelined for the series-opener, fueling speculations whether the BCCI selectors are content about his fitness. However, veteran spinner Piyush Chawla backed the decision to bench Shami for the game.
Chawla feels that the team management made the right call not to risk Shami, pointing out that the latter is still limping a bit while bowling. He suggested that the ultimate goal is to get Shami fully fit for the Champions Trophy.
“If you see the run-up, he is still limping a bit. The main target should be Champions Trophy, and getting fit for that. Lots of matches in this series, even if he misses a few games, that is okay,” said Chawla.
Wrist-spinner Varun Chakravarthy took an incredible 3-23, while left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma smashed a scintillating 79 to help India take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
For India, everything went right from the time they elected to bowl first to bowl out England for just 132. Arshdeep Singh took out the openers quickly to become India’s leading wicket-taker in men’s T20Is.
After that, Chakaravarthy spun a brilliant spin web to leave England dazed in the middle overs.
Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya also picked two wickets in a comprehensive bowling performance for India. For England, captain Jos Buttler waged a lone battle to hit 68 off 44 balls, even as others fell around him.
In reply, India chased down 133 inside 13 overs, thanks to Abhishek’s 20-ball fifty, the first time he hit a half-century in the shortest format on home soil. Abhishek provided an absolute masterclass to a full house crowd on opening the batting by hitting five boundaries and eight sixes in his 34-ball stay.
He mixed finesse and brute force in getting 68 out of 79 runs from boundaries and played a leading role in getting a comprehensive win for India.
(With IANS Inputs)