Before rain forced the first Twenty20 international against England at Chester-le-Street to be abandoned after the Indian innings, teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was once again denied an India debut.
Before play began, fans at Durham’s headquarters got a tantalizing look at the 15-year-old phenom as he warmed up on the outfield.
However, Sooryavanshi was left out of the starting XI for the third straight game this trip after T20 world champions India’s shocking 0-2 series loss to Ireland in Belfast.
After impressive performances in the Indian Premier League, where he emerged as the top batsman this season with 776 runs for the Rajasthan Royals, including one century and five fifties, Sooryavanshi forced his way into the squad for this limited-overs trip.
When India were 6-2 on Wednesday after winning the toss, it appeared as though they could have regretted their choice to exclude Sooryavanshi.
However, through consistent downpour, they bounced back to post a total of 189-7. The match was canceled at 1915 GMT due to more rain during the interval, which caused the covers on the ground.
After a Test series loss to New Zealand and the retirement of red-ball captain Ben Stokes, England’s home international season got off to a terrible start due to bad weather.
Harry Brook, the England white-ball captain, stated on Tuesday that he would take the Test captaincy if it were offered because he thinks it is viable to captain in all three international formats at the same time.
India lost Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan in the second over in a rematch of a World Cup semi-final they had won earlier this year. While Kishan was ran out in a mix-up with Abhishek Sharma, Samson was caught by a leaping Tom Banton off Saqib Mahmood.
Before being dismissed by Sam Curran’s deft slower ball, Abhishek smashed a powerful 59 off 24 balls. One Mahmood over went for 21, including two pulled sixes.
With 64 runs scored in the last six overs, India captain Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube provided a late boost. Before rain ended the opening of a five-match campaign, Iyer scored 68 from 47 balls and Dube 42 not out off 21.
The second Twenty20 match of the series is scheduled to take place at Old Trafford on Saturday.
