"India will win" - Fans react as Mohammed Shami replaces Shardul Thakur for IND vs NZ 2023 World Cup match
Mohammed Shami has replaced Shardul Thakur for the 2023 World Cup match between India and New Zealand at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday, October 22.
The speedster, who is able to exploit swing, is playing his first game in this edition of the 50-over tournament. The change comes as Shardul Thakur managed just two wickets in his last three games at the World Cup.
In 2023, Shami has scalped 19 wickets in 12 ODIs, including a fifer against Australia in the recently concluded bilateral series, barring the ongoing clash.
The 33-year-old has scalped 31 wickets in 11 World Cup matches so far.
In addition, he has picked up 25 wickets in 12 ODIs at an economy rate of 6.15 against New Zealand.
Fans on X (formerly known as Twitter) welcomed the move to replace Shardul Thakur with Mohammed Shami in the playing XI. One wrote:
"Sensational Shami is back. Siraj + Shami + Bumrah = Absolute Carnage."
Here are some more reactions:
Mohammed Shami and Suryakumar Yadav in as India opt to bowl against New Zealand
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand in the World Cup match on Sunday. Apart from Mohammed Shami, Suryakumar Yadav replaced Hardik Pandya, who sustained an ankle injury against Bangladesh in his last outing in Pune.
At the toss, Rohit said:
“We'll bowl first. No reason, we were here training yesterday and felt a bit of dew comes in. Looks like a good pitch, we'll back ourselves to chase. Quite important to keep the momentum going, forget what happened in the past. Need to be at it all the time. This is one place everyone wants to come and play, beautiful weather and nice stadium."
He continued:
"Hardik isn't available, so even Shardul misses out. We've got Shami and Surya coming in.”
Meanwhile, the Tom Latham-led New Zealand fielded the same playing XI after a 149-run win over Afghanistan.
The two teams are coming on the back of four consecutive wins in their first four games in the marquee ICC event.
Follow the IND vs NZ 2023 World Cup match live score updates here.