5th T20I: Samson, Shedge come in as India elect to bowl first against England
Southampton, July 11
India have brought back Sanju Samson and Suryansh Shedge as India won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in the fifth and final T20I at The Rose Bowl on Saturday. The toss was delayed by 45 minutes due to the Indian team arriving late at the stadium after being stuck in traffic.
England have already won the series via an unassailable 3-0 lead, and another victory over India will help them seal a clean sweep victory, as well as become the new top-ranked team in men's T20Is.
India, meanwhile, will look to salvage some pride and conclude a difficult T20I leg on a high before heading into the three-match ODI series against England, starting on July 14 in Birmingham.
After winning the toss, skipper Shreyas Iyer, who's won every coin flip so far on this tour, said Samson and Shedge have replaced Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Washington Sundar in the playing eleven. "Today, based on the conditions, it's windy, and we had a chat before, and they said the wicket won't change that much, so we've elected to bowl first.
"I just want to give 100 per cent effort today, irrespective of the result. I just want them to have a solid state of mind where they go in and just try to get the best out of themselves, rather than sulking or being in a situation where they're a bit ahead of the game. Be in the moment and just stop thinking about what's happened and what could happen."
England captain Harry Brook said left-arm spinner Liam Dawson has replaced leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed in their playing eleven. "We'd have had a bat, so we're pretty happy. If we win today, we go to world No 1, so that's at the back of our minds. But, as we've done all series, we want to adapt to the surface and communicate well."
Playing XIs:
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, and Prasidh Krishna
England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (captain), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Josh Tongue
— IANS
Reader Comments
Clean sweep? That would be embarrassing for Indian cricket. But let's be real - we've played without our big guns. Suryansh Shedge is a great find from the IPL though, excited to see what he brings. At least try to go down fighting ab. 🏏
Toss delayed 45 mins because of traffic? That's peak India energy abroad too! 😂 But seriously, Shreyas Iyer's captaincy has been good even in defeat. At least he's winning the tosses. After the ODI series disaster in 2022, I just hope we don't get whitewashed completely. Come on boys, show some fight!
Respectful criticism - but selecting Shedge over Sundar seems questionable. Washington has been our best spinner in the series! We're basically experimenting when we need to stop the rot. Still, credit to the management for trying something new with Shedge. Hope he proves me wrong with a stunning debut. 🤞
As an Indian cricket fan living in the UK, I was at the stadium - the traffic was no joke! Still, nice to see Rose Bowl crowd chanting "India, India" after that loss. Samson and Shedge look solid in warm-up. England's bowling is lethal though - Archer and Rashid on this pitch? Going to be tough. Go India! 🇮🇳
Harry Brook saying they want to be world No.1 is a big motivator for us as well. Maybe this pressure will actually help India play freely. I really want to see Ishan Kishan attack from the start - he's
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