3rd ODI: Bumrah misses out as England opt to bat first in series decider
London, July 19
England have won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the series-deciding third ODI at the Lord's Cricket Ground on Sunday, with the visitors being dealt a major blow as premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah missed out due to knee swelling.
Bumrah was seen taking a fitness test ahead of the coin toss at Lord's, but after failing it, he was ruled out of the clash. With Bumrah and Washington Sundar, who was ruled out due to hamstring strain, unavailable, India have brought in Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh.
Wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul is fit again after missing the second ODI in Cardiff due to illness and replaces Shivam Dube. "We were in a great position in Cardiff but then lost too many wickets in the middle overs so hopefully we can get good runs today.
"We're not the one who rely on stats so much. We think he's (Arshdeep) a great bowler, and we were looking for four seamers on this ground. We have seen in the middle overs, spinners don't really offer much as compared to the fast bowlers," said India skipper Shubman Gill.
England, meanwhile, have brought Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood in their playing eleven. "It looks a good surface so hopefully we can get runs on the board and put India under pressure.
"I thought we did really well in the middle overs (in the second ODI) to restrict India, while the way Joe Root batted set a great template. It would be beautiful to win and lift the trophy at the end of the day but we have to assess conditions and adapt," he said.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna
England: Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook (captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Josh Tongue
— IANS
Reader Comments
Why is Shubman Gill captaining? I thought Rohit was there... anyway, okay. But the real issue is our middle-order. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan need to step up big time. We can't always depend on Kohli and Sharma. Looking forward to KL Rahul's return! 🤞
England's batting looks solid with Root and Buttler, but their bowling has been inconsistent. Archer is still not at his best post-injury. If we can survive the first 10 overs, we can post 320+. But Bumrah's absence will be felt in the death overs. Let's go India! 🏏
I don't understand why they keep playing Prasidh Krishna. He's been expensive in most matches. Should have given a chance to someone like Mukesh Kumar or Avesh Khan instead. Also, Washington Sundar's absence means no spinning all-rounder option. Axar needs to step up.
England won the toss and elected to bat? On Lord's? With overcast conditions? That's a bold move, Harry Brook. I think India should have bowled first anyway. Chasing at Lord's can be tricky with the slope. Anyway, let's see how our bowlers perform. All the best, boys! 💪
I've been following Prince Yadav since his Ranji days. He has that ability to swing the ball both ways. Hope he gets a good debut spell. And Arshdeep is a wicket-taker. But I'm worried about our fielding as well—dropping catches cost us in Cardiff. Need to be
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