Twitter lauds exclusion of Hardik Pandya

India lost the toss against England in the fifth Test match and England skipper Joe Root grabbed the opportunity with both the hands and opted to bat at the Kennington Oval.

Virat Kohli played safe in the fourth Test and played with the same combination that he fielded when India won the third Test, but this time he opted for some changes in the squad.

Debutant Hanuma Vihari became the 292nd player to represent India in Tests and he received his test cap from skipper Kohli. All-rounder Hardik Pandya made way for Hanuma Vihari in the team whereas Jadeja got a chance at the expense of R Ashwin.

Also Read: Hanuma Vihari gets his debut cap

R Ashwin had to be left out of the team because of his injury, but Pandya got dropped because of his blow-hot blow-cold form.

Twitterati expressed their happiness on the microblogging site and wished Vihari all the luck for his debut match.

Twitter reactions:

So finally, Virat Kohli shows he can drop Hardik Pandya. #ENGvIND

— Gautam Chauhan? (@Gautamchauhan2) September 7, 2018

But I am so glad that useless Hardik Pandya is kicked out finally.

— I_Raghumm (@IRaghumm) September 7, 2018

Naam mera Hardik Pandya
Ghar pe baith ke khelunga Dandiya
Bye bye Pandya#IndvsEng #ENGvIND

— Arman Azhar (@ArmanAzhar3) September 7, 2018

#ENGvIND – Wohhhoooo…Finally Hardik Pandya sits on the bench….@imjadeja is in the team and finally will see Bapu in action….Lots of good wishes to Bapu and all the best to debutante "H Vihari

— Dhaval Dave (@Dhaval_1911985) September 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/RunMachine_Vk18/status/1037998743876861952

Hardik Pandya DROPPED.

Justice prevails. #ENGvIND

— ?????? ????? (@GautamSodhi1) September 7, 2018

Finally Hardik Pandya Isn't Playing. Sunil Gavaskar & Aashish Nehra Right Now. ?? #HardikPandya #ENGvIND #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/ATeVbiYvWT

— Jai Rohit Sharma ?? (@madam_jadeja) September 7, 2018

https://twitter.com/Shubh_AD/status/1037995328316874753

It was also being speculated that young Prithvi Shaw could get a chance in the playing XI and Kohli might choose to drop opener KL Rahul. But all the rumours were put to rest after Kohli announced his playing XI and revealed two changes in the side with Vihari and Jadeja in the playing combination.

India have already lost the series against England but they will be aiming to win the dead rubber to finish the series on a high. Indian All-rounder Hardik Pandya was on the radar of the critics who were hitting out on him by saying that he couldn’t fulfil the responsibilities of an all-rounder. Pandya shined with the bat and the ball in the third Test where he returned with a five-fer and smashed a half-century, but he was unable to replicate his good form in the next match.

A few days earlier, Sunil Gavaskar said that India had underused the potential of Hardik Pandya.

“Hardik Pandya has the talent. He has shown glimpses of his talent in the past. But I feel India haven’t used Hardik Pandya as much as they should have either with the bat or ball,” Gavaskar said in an interview.