Arshdeep, Kuldeep, Washington Return To India's XI; England Opt To Bowl In Ahmedabad

India included Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Arshdeep Singh in their playing 11 for the third and final ODI against England in Ahmedabad on February 12 (Wednesday). The trio came in place of Ravindra Jadeja (rested), Mohammed Shami (rested) and Varun Chakravarthy (niggle).

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said Chakravarthy, who made his ODI debut in Cuttack, had a sore calf and hence missed the game. Meanwhile, Kuldeep is back after missing the second game, while Arshdeep will be playing his first game in the series.

England captain Jos Buttler won the toss for the third time in a row, but opted to bowl first this time around. Tom Banton, who last played an ODI in 2020, replaced all-rounder Jamie Overton.

India already have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, having won each of the first two ODIs by four wickets. The Men in Blue chased down 248 in Nagpur before hunting down 304 in Cuttack, thanks to Rohit’s stunning century.

What did the captains say

Jos Buttler - "We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision) A little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It's a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half."

Rohit Sharma - "I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. (On Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy) They are pretty new in their careers, so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own, and they have a lot of potential.”

India’s playing XI for the third ODI

Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

England’s playing XI for the third ODI

Philip Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood

Pitch report

“This one is right in the centre, 66m to the left and right and 74m straight down the ground. This is the same pitch used for the World Cup final, black soil pitch. It played slower in the first half and better for batting in the second half. There are some cracks that could keep the bowlers interested. Looks like a bowl-first wicket. One of those pitches where if a batter gets in he can score but it might not be easy for the new comer. Dew is a concern, there was a lot of dew last night,” said Deep Dasgupta and Graeme Swann.