"Love him or hate him, you cannot avoid him" - Twitterati baffled by Shardul Thakur's inclusion in the playing XI at the expense of Umran Malik 

All-rounder Shardul Thakur returns to India's playing XI for the ODI series opener against New Zealand on Wednesday, January 18. The Mumbai-born player's inclusion comes at the expense of Umran Malik, but it increases the depth of the Indian batting unit against the No.1-ranked ODI team in the world.

Thakur was not in the squad for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka. With KL Rahul and Axar Patel not being available for the New Zealand series due to family commitments, the pace-bowling all-rounder was included alongside Shahbaz Ahmed for the three-match affair.

His last ODI appearance came during the tour of Bangladesh in December 2022. He claimed four wickets in the series, which India ended up losing by a 2-1 margin. Prior to that, he had a good home series against South Africa in September-October, where he got to bowl with the new ball as well.

Fans took to Twitter to debate the selection call which saw Thakur being included in the playing XI. Here are some of the tweets:

Viksa Vedantist

@AutodidactVikas

@mufaddal_vohra Why is Shardul Thakur in the team?

@mufaddal_vohra Why is Shardul Thakur in the team?

Saikrishna సాయికృష్ణ

@Sai__Krishna__

All of a sudden, Shardul Thakur is in the playing XI. Poor management.

All of a sudden, Shardul Thakur is in the playing XI. Poor management.

KhabriBhai

@RealKhabriBhai

Breaking News : Lord Shardul Thakur is back in the playing xi of India

Hence Advantage New Zealand

#INDvsNZ

Breaking News : Lord Shardul Thakur is back in the playing xi of India

Hence Advantage New Zealand

#INDvsNZ

DV 🏏🇮🇳

@deepakv712

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur https://t.co/XgmUXYu1VI

yr.samar

@YusufRahamani

Playing Shardul Thakur instead of umran Malik that's a disrespect to fast bowling.
#INDvsNZ

2

Playing Shardul Thakur instead of umran Malik that's a disrespect to fast bowling.💔😭
#INDvsNZ

Viksa Vedantist

@AutodidactVikas

@BCCI @ImRo45 Why is Shardul Thakur in the team? 🤦🏻‍♂️

@BCCI @ImRo45 Why is Shardul Thakur in the team? 🤦🏻‍♂️

Shamak Layeeq

@shamak_layeeq

Unless there is a injury concern to Umran Malik, I don't see any reason to drop him and pick Shardul Thakur. You have to give him maximum game time before the World Cup, he can be an important bowler for India in the marquee event #INDvNZ #CricketTwitter

Unless there is a injury concern to Umran Malik, I don't see any reason to drop him and pick Shardul Thakur. You have to give him maximum game time before the World Cup, he can be an important bowler for India in the marquee event #INDvNZ #CricketTwitter

Giri Subramanian (Off Work)

@giri26

Listening to #RohitSharma it seems like he is keen to play #ShardulThakur to give some depth to the batting. I just hope that it is not the case. We should play the best XI available and not play players to try and manufacture a XI. This is how we messed up in the past. #INDvNZ

Listening to #RohitSharma it seems like he is keen to play #ShardulThakur to give some depth to the batting. I just hope that it is not the case. We should play the best XI available and not play players to try and manufacture a XI. This is how we messed up in the past. #INDvNZ

Sharat Chandra Bhatt

@imsbhatt0707

Hard on Umran Malik to de dropped as he has been superb in the middle overs in the ODIs he played .

But our batting finishes at No. 7, so playing Shardul Thakur make into the playing XI as he provides some batting at No. 8 .

#INDvNZ

Hard on Umran Malik to de dropped as he has been superb in the middle overs in the ODIs he played .

But our batting finishes at No. 7, so playing Shardul Thakur make into the playing XI as he provides some batting at No. 8 .

#INDvNZ

Arryaa Sinha

@arryaa_sinha

I don't understand the selection of shardul thakur ....useless as a batsman and an average bowler in my opinion twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/s…

ESPNcricinfo

@ESPNcricinfo

In for India: Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar & Suryakumar Yadav

In for New Zealand: Henry NIcholls, Blair Tickner, Henry Shipley

What do you make of both the teams?

LIVE: es.pn/3iThoZE

#INDvNZ

61

8

In for India: Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar & Suryakumar Yadav

In for New Zealand: Henry NIcholls, Blair Tickner, Henry Shipley

What do you make of both the teams?

LIVE: es.pn/3iThoZE

#INDvNZ https://t.co/Vt1ZxRf0AO

I don't understand the selection of shardul thakur ....useless as a batsman and an average bowler in my opinion twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/s…

parthhhh

@Sportify07

@gurkiratsgill I'll personally would have gone with umran who bowled really well in first two odi's and specially his wicket taking ability in middle overs which we lacked in past ! Shardul thakur has done well in PP in odis not in middle overs ! So this selection doesnt make any sense

1

@gurkiratsgill I'll personally would have gone with umran who bowled really well in first two odi's and specially his wicket taking ability in middle overs which we lacked in past ! Shardul thakur has done well in PP in odis not in middle overs ! So this selection doesnt make any sense

Kb

@Kb35713022

@gurkiratsgill Everytime youngster get benched get ready for hammering of shami and shardul
Shardul thakur is average player in Whiteball

@gurkiratsgill Everytime youngster get benched get ready for hammering of shami and shardul
Shardul thakur is average player in Whiteball

CRIC PRATHEEP

@Lefthandbatman_

Shardul thakur playing instead of Umran Malik is a Clear indication that india is look for Extending batting depth ,if Shardul does what he done for past 3 years ,2 Wickets and 2 sixes in the end then I feel he is surely an asset ,Umran can be valuable only if he reduce economy.

Shardul thakur playing instead of Umran Malik is a Clear indication that india is look for Extending batting depth ,if Shardul does what he done for past 3 years ,2 Wickets and 2 sixes in the end then I feel he is surely an asset ,Umran can be valuable only if he reduce economy.

Vinesh Prabhu

@vlp1994

Love him or hate him, you can't avoid him!

Shardul Thakur

Love him or hate him, you can't avoid him!

Shardul Thakur 🙏

Atrovoid

@atrovoid

Shardul Thakur in place of Umran Malik. It just happens in India. Joke of a decision.
#INDvNZ

Shardul Thakur in place of Umran Malik. It just happens in India. Joke of a decision.
#INDvNZ

Paritosh Kumar 🏏

@ParitoshK_2016

Shardul Thakur being in the 11 makes the batting line-up a little longer, that's a good choice. But it would be interesting how he bowls as he has been expensive most of the time in ODI cricket.
Also, In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, it's a good team.

#INDvNZ | #CricketTwitter

Shardul Thakur being in the 11 makes the batting line-up a little longer, that's a good choice. But it would be interesting how he bowls as he has been expensive most of the time in ODI cricket.
Also, In the absence of Shreyas Iyer, it's a good team.

#INDvNZ | #CricketTwitter

Sharon Solomon

@BSharan_6

Dropped Umran Malik for Shardul Thakur. Waah BCCI, you can never impress us in your Squad selection.

#INDvNZ #INDvsNZ #NZvIND #NZvsIND

1

Dropped Umran Malik for Shardul Thakur. Waah BCCI, you can never impress us in your Squad selection.

#INDvNZ #INDvsNZ #NZvIND #NZvsIND

Vaibhav Bhola 🇮🇳

@VibhuBhola

Shardul Thakur replaces Umran Malik



Only Possible In Team India

11

6

Shardul Thakur replaces Umran Malik

😁😁😁😁

Only Possible In Team India

Shardul Thakur has recorded single-digit scores across his last four innings

The all-rounder has only been able to tally 13 runs across his last four innings. His last knock of significance came against South Africa in the first ODI at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, where he scored a quickfire 33.

Team India have won the toss in the first ODI against New Zealand and decided to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

The Men in Blue are without the services of KL Rahul, Axar Patel, and Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas, who was a late omission from the squad after sustaining a back injury, has been replaced by Rajat Patidar.

The Blackcaps, meanwhile, are coming on the back of a historic 2-1 series win over Pakistan but will be without key players like Trent Boult, Kane Williamson, and Tim Southee.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(c&wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner.

Who will win the first ODI between India and New Zealand? Let us know what you think.

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