India vs England: Michael Vaughan suprised to see the exclusion of Suryakumar Yadav from the first ODI

India is up against England in the first One Day International of the three-match series in Pune. Coming into the game, India made some significant changes into their Playing XI as KL Rahul was picked ahead of Rishabh Pant as the keeper of the team while Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna were rewarded with their maiden ODI call-ups.

While Kuldeep Yadav also features in the Playing XI, India decided to go with their tested Top 4 including the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, and Shreyas Iyer. However, India’s playing XI managed to surprise former England captain Michael Vaughan as he was expecting the inclusion of Suryakumar Yadav.

Surya had made his international batting debut for India during the fourth T20 International against England. In his first innings only, Surya had smashed a Player of the Match performance by amassing 57 runs in just 31 deliveries. This was followed by a stunning cameo of 32 runs in 17 balls in the final T20I to help India win

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Vaughan praised India for selecting a powerful line-up but he asserted that Suryakumar should have been handed his debut cap as it is important to give chances to the players who are coming after a great series. 

“India is still powerful. But I am surprised by the team selection. Rishabh Pant has played pretty much non-stop for a long period of time. So, maybe they gave him a bit of a breather, it’s not a bad thing for him. Suryakumar Yadav is who I would have played,” Vaughan said.

“On the back of his tremendous T20I performances, I would have gone with the ride and played him again. I think it’s so important that when a player comes in and sets the lights as he did, you carry on with him. I think he’s such a good player, he can easily adapt to the 50-over game. So, I am surprised India has gone without Suryakumar, but it is still a powerful line-up,” he added.

Big game for Shikhar Dhawan with younger players coming in: Michael Vaughan

Further, the former skipper reckoned that he would have loved to see Shubman Gill play as he is a wonderful talent and should get more chances in the middle. Though Shubham has been promising, there was no place in the top-order due to the availability of both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.

“Look at that batting line-up, look at that expertise. Big game for Shikhar Dhawan with younger players coming in. There is no Shubman Gill playing. He is a  wonderful talent, and maybe he should have been given some time in the middle as well. But whichever Indian side is put up on Indian surface, you know you have to play extremely well to beat them,” he signed off.