Revealed: Why Hardik Pandya is captaining instead of Rohit Sharma in the 2nd ODI vs West Indies

Fans were surprised to see Hardik Pandya at the toss instead of Rohit Sharma in the second ODI against West Indies.

In a bid to give youngsters more chances before the World Cup 2023 starts in October, Team India have decided to give Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma a break from the second ODI game against West Indies. In the first ODI, while chasing a low total of 115, Rohit Sharma batted lower down the order to give youngsters time in the middle, while Virat Kohli didn't get a chance to bat. Vice-captain Hardik Pandya will be leading the India side in the second ODI. 

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rested

This will be Hardik Pandya’s second ODI game as a captain of Team India. Pandya has been seen as a future leader of the team India as he is also leading the T20I side since the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Informing about Rohit and Virat’s absence, Hardik Pandya said, “Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been playing constant cricket, few questions need to be answered for us so they are resting in the game. They can be fresh for the third ODI”. 

Hope's Plan B against India on 2nd ODI

West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the second ODI. Hope after looking at the performance in the first ODI decided to go for the chase. Hope said, “We are going to bowl first, we saw what happened in the last game. The conditions will assist the bowlers”. West Indies were bowled out on just 114 runs in the first ODI. Windies spinners did challenge the Indian batters and picked up 5 Indian wickets. 

Sanju Samson and Axar Patel included in Playing Xi

Team India after giving rest to Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, have included Sanju Samson and Axar Patel in playing XI. The fans did have an outburst against Indian team management when Sanju did not get the opportunity to play in the first ODI. The second ODI will be hit by rain as there is 50% chance of rain during the second ODI at Kensington Oval in Barbados. India will look to seal the ODI series with a win in 2nd ODI.