India left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has not been picked for India's opening game of the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh. Here's why.
At the toss, India skipper Rohit Sharma confirmed that his side would persist with the same bowling combination as the recently-concluded ODI series against England – three spinners and three pacers.
As expected, one of the quicks was senior man Mohammed Shami, who has only recently returned from a lengthy injury layoff. All-rounder Hardik Pandya was also a selection along expected lines.
Match 2, Bangladesh vs India
vs
- Ball by ball Over
But India's second specialist seamer was the three-ODI-old Harshit Rana, rather than the left-armer Arshdeep Singh. Arshdeep had been named in India's initial list of 15 players for the tournament, announced in January while Rana was drafted into the squad just ahead of the final deadline two weeks ago, in place of the injured Jasprit Bumrah.
Rana played all three ODIs against England, the only specialist bowler to do so – returning figures of 3-53, 1-62 and 2-31. He does offer India a point of difference compared to their other quicks, with the ability to hit the deck hard at pace, and extract bounce even on flatter surfaces, making him a reliable option to operate in the middle overs.
Read more: Harshit Rana over Mohammed Siraj is a selection fraught with risk for minimal reward
He did struggle a touch when bowling with the new ball against England, as his eight Powerplay overs went for 75 runs. India may not have been worried about this aspect of his bowling against Bangladesh, whose openers are naturally not as attacking as England's are.
Playing XIs, Bangladesh vs India, Champions Trophy match No.2
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav.
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