Former Indian opening batter Navjot Singh Sidhu has called out a fan for spreading fake news against him amid the selectors replacing Rohit Sharma as the ODI skipper. With the fan claiming about Sidhu advising the BCCI to get rid of Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir along with reinstating Rohit as ODI skipper, the commentator wrote 'Shame on you' on X.
Rohit's removal as skipper sparked massive surprise among fans and netizens despite the veteran's highly successful tenure as captain, with Gill replacing him. The 38-year-old is the most successful Indian captain in ODIs among those who have skippered at least in 50 matches, maintaining a winning percentage of 75%. He also propelled the Men in Blue to 2023 World Cup final and Champions Trophy success earlier this year.
Responding to the fan's statement on X, Sidhu stated:
"Never said it , don’t spread fake news ,never imagined it. Shame on you."
Shubman Gill begins his ODI captaincy tenure with a defeat
Meanwhile, Gill didn't have the most auspicious of starts to his ODI captaincy tenure as Team India lost the first of the three games to Australia by seven wickets. The rain-affected fixture in Perth only allowed 26 overs per side after numerous interruptions as the Men in Blue managed only 136/9, with KL Rahul top-scoring with 38. Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Owen and Matthew Kuhnemann picked up two wickets each. As per the Duckworth-Lewis method, the target for the hosts was cut down to 131.
In response, Australian captain Mitchell Marsh played a sensible knock of 46* to get the team over the line with seven wickets to spare. Josh Philippe (37) and Matt Renshaw (21*) also played their part to perfection as Australia took a 1-0 lead in the series.
The second ODI will take place in Adelaide on October 23, Thursday.
