Twitterati unimpressed with selection of Ishant Sharma over Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has the habit of going with a changed playing eleven for every Test match that he plays as the leader. Coming in to the Centurion Test against South Africa, a few changes were expected to be made in the Indian lineup. But little did the fans know that the team would end up dropping Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the playing eleven. The visitors were badly beaten in the first Test in Cape Town.

Make no mistake, the batsmen were to be blamed for the dismal show across the two innings in the game. Hence, as the build up to the second game of the three-match series got intense, the pundits got their brains working on which batsman would make it to the playing eleven to solve India’s batting woes. Team India did bring in KL Rahul in place of Shikhar Dhawan in the match.

However, they stunned everyone by not roping in Ajinkya Rahane in the side. Well, to some extent, the exclusion of Rahane could actually be justified considering the fact that he had only scored 17 runs in 5 innings in the Sri Lanka series. But the change that seems to be totally unacceptable was the omission of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

It was Bhuvi who had the Proteas batsmen reeling on 12/3 in the first hour of play in Cape Town Test. He was arguably the best Indian bowler in the match. Also, he stayed longer at the crease more than many of the specialized batsmen in the side. When the chips were down in the first innings at 92/7, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who had played the ideal second fiddle to Hardik Pandya in the innings.

Well, Bhuvi is out of the Centurion Test and Ishant Sharma comes in. It will be interesting to see how things turn out now. The big heads were shocked to see Bhuvi’s exclusion. And the fans could not believe their senses either.

“Staggered by the exclusion of Bhuvneshwar. Staggered. One player gave you a chance in Cape Town. And he won’t be bowling at South Africa,” quoted Harsha Bhogle in disbelief.

Here is how the Twitterati reacted to Bhuvi’s omission:

Thread for Test 2, day one: A very puzzled thread, that is. Saha gets a convenient niggle. Bhuvi, who got you in the game at Newlands, is out. KL for Dhawan is the only call that makes sense. And? Rahane remains out. Oh well. Pig-headedness is *not* a virtue.

— Prem Panicker (@prempanicker) January 13, 2018

"Perception isn't the truth but it's bigger than truth these days" And may be that's why Bhuvi isn't a part of playing 11. #IndvSAonSonyTen3

— R P Singh (@RpSingh99) January 13, 2018

What wrong did Bhuvneshwar Kumar do in the previous test? #SAvsIND

— zainab abbas (@ZAbbasOfficial) January 13, 2018

Shami, Pandya marking run ups… So is Ishant… Bhuvi is not… Looks like he is out. Not sure though. #SAvInd

— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) January 13, 2018

India has actually dropped Bhuvi for Ishant. Ok then, good luck.

— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) January 13, 2018

Bhuvi’s form comes with ‘conditions apply’. Since the pitch is expected to offer more bounce than lateral movement…therefore, Ishant plays. #SAvsIND

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) January 13, 2018

Ishant Sharma in for Bhuvi.
Rohit Sharma again gets the chance over Rahane.

I think Anushka Sharma selecting the playing XI on this tour.#INDvSA

— Sunil- The Cricketer (@1sInto2s) January 13, 2018

Bhuvi bowled well, batted well, had to be dropped.

— Gappistan Radio (@GappistanRadio) January 13, 2018

What, no Bhuvi? Mind boggles. Team selection is almost as exciting as the first session.

— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) January 13, 2018

Ishant's selection makes sense, he can get a lot out of this dry pitch. The selection is justified based on the conditions. But the player he has replaced doesn't make sense, Bhuvi did his bit for the last test, should have played instead. Bumrah should have been the one dropped.

— Clive (@vanillawallah) January 13, 2018

Virat replaced Dhawan with KL Rahul : Wow now India will score 30-40 runs more this time.

Virat replaced Bhuvi with Ishant : Shit now India will need to score 100-200 runs more this time. #INDvsSA

— Smoking Skills (@SmokingSkills_) January 13, 2018

Bhuvneshwar Kumar dropped, means Jasprit Bumrah takes the new ball. Not only was Bhuvi India's best bowler in Cape Town, he also lasted longer at the crease than ANYONE else: 127 balls: #SAvIND

— Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) January 13, 2018

Bhuvi is like that kid in a family who gets the punishment and doesn't know what was his mistake..

— Writer Thakur (@IndianWriterV) January 13, 2018

India going in with Ishant ahead of Bhuvi because of the conditions.
Why is Rahane not in the 11 ahead of Rohit ?
Will Kohli drop himself in England given his record there ?#SAvsIND

— Cricket bakchod (@AllTimeBakchod) January 13, 2018

What the fuck is wrong with Kohli? Dropping Rahane first, now Bhuvi. Hope we are beaten by an innings here. Team management needs a lesson. And yeah fuck Rohit Sharma too.

— Aniruddha Bhondwe (@Ani_b95) January 13, 2018

Bhuvi rattled the South African top order in the last game, yet Ishant sharma was preferred instead of him for the second test.
You know why?

Because 'Regionalism' beats performance.#क्षेत्रवाद #SAvsIND

— Tushar Varanasi (@Tusharsindia) January 13, 2018

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