"Do they pick him to carry the water bottle?" - Fans react as Kuldeep Yadav benched for IND vs SL 1st ODI

Kuldeep Yadav has been benched for the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on Tuesday, January 10. Rohit Sharma and Co. chose to go ahead with Yuzvendra Chahal as their first-choice spinner.

The development came even as Kuldeep emerged as the Player of the Match in his last Team India appearance. He took eight wickets and contributed 40 runs in the first Test in Bangladesh, which the visitors won by 227 runs.

It's not the first time that Kuldeep has been dropped after winning Man of the Match award. He couldn't find a place in the next ODI in New Zealand after a four-wicket haul against South Africa. The 28-year-old also didn’t find a place in the second Test in Bangladesh last month.

Fans were disappointed as Kuldeep Yadav didn’t find a place in the playing XI for the 1st ODI against the Islanders.

Here are some of the best Twitter reactions:

It is worth mentioning that Kuldeep Yadav took 12 wickets in eight ODIs at an economy rate of 4.96 last year. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal picked 21 wickets in 14 ODIs at an economy rate of 5.49.

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Rohit Sharma picks Yuzvendra Chahal ahead of Kuldeep Yadav in dew-friendly conditions

India captain Rohit Sharma has chosen to go ahead with Yuzvendra Chahal, with the dew likely to play a significant role in the first ODI.

He looked discontent with excessive dew in Guwahati as Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka won the toss and opted to bowl first. The skipper, however, believes that it’s a blessing in disguise as Team India prepares for the 2023 ODI World Cup at home.

Speaking at the toss, Rohit said:

“We are happy to bat first. We would have liked to bowl as well, it's a good challenge. The ground was flooded with dew yesterday. There will be times where we need to bowl under dew. We got to be ready for that with the World Cup around the corner.”

He also remembered his 152* off 117 balls during his last ODI, which came against West Indies in 2018 at the venue.

“It's about doing the basics right. It's important to do things differently at times. We need to keep moving in the right direction. Had a great time playing an ODI here last time. Hope we'll have another memorable game today.”

Besides Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Arshdeep Singh, and Washington Sundar also warmed the bench in the first ODI.

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj, and Yuzvendra Chahal.