In a notable deviation from his regular no. 63 jersey, Suryakumar Yadav opted to don Sanju Samson’s no. 9 jersey as he stepped onto the field for the 1st ODI against West Indies. Despite being part of India’s playing XI, Suryakumar donned the jersey associated with Samson, who, on the other hand, remained on the bench throughout the match.
During the first ODI between India and the West Indies at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, Suryakumar Yadav, the star Indian batter, was unexpectedly seen wearing Sanju Samson’s jersey. Instead of his regular no. 63 shirt, Suryakumar sported Samson’s no. 9 jersey as he took the field against the West Indies. While Suryakumar was part of India’s playing XI for the match, Sanju Samson remained on the bench.
Abhinav Mukund, one of the commentators for India’s tour of the West Indies, mentioned during his on-air commentary that Suryakumar might have forgotten his shirt in the team hotel, which led him to borrow Samson’s jersey for the game.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first. The decision to bowl first turned out to be beneficial for India as they managed to bowl out the West Indies for a mere 114 runs. The Indian spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav played a crucial role, claiming a combined total of 7 wickets. Jadeja took 3 wickets, while Kuldeep secured 4 wickets.
However, India made the chase a bit challenging for themselves, losing 5 wickets during the pursuit of the modest target. Rohit shuffled the batting order, promoting Ishan Kishan to open alongside regular opener Shubman Gill. As wickets kept falling, other batsmen were sent up the order. Only after the fifth wicket fell did Rohit step in to bat, marking only the second instance since January 2013 in ODIs where he batted outside the top six positions.
Thankfully, Ishan Kishan’s impressive 52 off 46 balls aided India in reaching the target. They eventually achieved victory in 22.5 overs.