Once again, India went in with Kedar Jadhav instead of Manish Pandey as the number six batsman. What Kohli thought about this and what were his plans regarding Jadhav, could only be debated once the match is over.
Despite being one of the top performers for the team in the 5-match T20I series against the Kiwis, Manish Pandey was left out and Jadhav was included in the team. Fans seemed visibly upset and showed their displeasure for this decision of captain Kohli via tweets.
#AskStar #NZvIND
Fans to Kohli and Shastri : Despite promising performance in T20i why did you select Kedar Jadhav instead of Manish Pandey ??Kohli: pic.twitter.com/Yaea62JfYw
— SARVAGYA DUBEY (@sarvagyasonu) February 5, 2020
Sanju Samson seeing Manish Pandey being ignored in the 1st odi #NZvsIND
pic.twitter.com/o9Xpce3rHa— dǝɐdपूल (@immy_neutron) February 5, 2020
Jadhav played a good hand, having scored 26 not out off 15 balls. But is it fair for Manish Pandey to always face the axe? Only time would tell how and when Kohli would pick Manish Pandey in the playing XI.