Shardul Thakur Preferred Over Ashwin in World Cup Showdown Against Afghanistan: Fan Reactions to India’s Playing XI Change

Shardul Thakur’s unexpected inclusion in the playing XI, replacing R. Ashwin, has sparked fan reactions as many had anticipated Mohammad Shami’s selection for India’s World Cup match against Afghanistan.

In a surprising move, Shardul Thakur took the place of Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s playing XI for their 2023 World Cup clash against Afghanistan at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on October 11. Ashwin found himself omitted after his 1/34 performance in the previous game against Australia, which India won by six wickets. This decision aimed to boost India’s pace attack and strengthen their batting lineup with the versatile all-rounder Thakur.

India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, confirmed the change at the toss, saying, “Ashwin misses out, Shardul Thakur comes in for him.” Despite Thakur’s recent wicketless performances against Australia, he has an impressive record, taking 19 wickets in 13 ODIs this year with an economy rate of 6.35.

Notably, the decision to include Shardul over Mohammed Shami sparked surprise and discussion among fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

India made a change which is expected Ashwin out Shardul Thakur in I expected Shami today 😢 took hatrick vs Afghanistan last World Cup pic.twitter.com/VhDjSwfRSC

— Cricspace (@cricspaceoffl) October 11, 2023

Why Shardul thakur??

— Imran Khan (@imranqhan) October 11, 2023

Early days still, and hopefully Shardul Thakur will have a good game, but this was probably a good day to play Shami.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 11, 2023

Ashwin replaced by Shardul Thakur
I think Mohammad Shami will be a good choice over Shardul#INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/2yoU5sPr6h

— Cric Bold (@cric_bold) October 11, 2023

Why did they pick Shardul Thakur as the third pacer over Mohammad Shami?
And if they went with Shardul for his batting, it makes you wonder if the team doesn't have confidence in its main batters, relying on the number eight guy instead. Weird, right? #INDvsAFG pic.twitter.com/9ebMItDAKu

— Anil Tiwari (@Anil_Kumar_ti) October 11, 2023

Literally they are playing shardul thakur ahead of Md shami….
bc afganistan ke against bhi batting depth chahiye kya tumhe #CWC23 #INDvsAFG

— Ankit Alaria (@AlariaAnkit) October 11, 2023

I think Mohammad Shami should have been included in place of Ashwin today. Instead Shardul Thakur has been included msg be because he can bat a bit and swing the bat

— Jitender Singh Bhatia 🇮🇳 (@ImTrueSikh) October 11, 2023

Writing this with the hope that shardul does well but surprising to see him play in place of Ashwin. He is neither a better batsman than Ashwin nor a better bowler then shami 🤔 #INDvAFG

— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) October 11, 2023

Shardul Thakur instead of Mohammed Shami#INDvAFG | #INDvsAFG | #CWC23 pic.twitter.com/c9skYpSyGi

— Don Cricket 🏏 (@doncricket_) October 11, 2023

Shardul instead of Shami to replace Ashwin? An extra batter needed even against Afghanistan? Trying to process this… INDvAFG #ICCCricketWorldCup23

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 11, 2023

Afghanistan’s captain, Hasmatullah Shahidi, won the toss and chose to bat first in the ongoing match. Despite their previous loss to Bangladesh, Afghanistan maintained their playing XI. Shahidi expressed confidence in their bowling attack and the pitch, stating they aimed to make a strong batting statement.

On the other hand, India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, expressed a preference to chase due to the expected dew factor and stressed the need for improved bowling and batting performances.

India has an undefeated record against Afghanistan in all formats. Ravindra Jadeja boasts 7 ODI wickets against Afghanistan and 9 in Delhi. A showdown also awaits between Naveen-Ul-Haq and Virat Kohli, who last clashed during the IPL. India’s track record at Arun Jaitley Stadium is 13 wins and 7 losses in ODIs.

Last Updated on October 11, 2023