T Natarajan: Why is KL Rahul not playing today’s 5th T20I between India and England in Ahmedabad?

KL Rahul not playing: India have made a solitary change to their Playing XI for the deciding match against England.

During the fifth T20I of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Ahmedabad, England captain Eoin Morgan has won the toss and elected to field for the fourth time in the series.

Once again laying emphasis on chasing at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Morgan also informed that they will take the field with an unchanged Playing XI. “We will chase and the last game there’s a lot of dew. The wicket looks good and hopefully it’s a good game,” Morgan told Star Sports during the toss.

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“We have to try and adapt to the conditions and we are very excited about tonight. We are still looking to improve and I think we have been consistent throughout the whole series and the bowlers have a massive tick there. We are playing the same team,” Morgan said.

Why is KL Rahul not playing today’s 5th T20I between India and England?

India, who have wholeheartedly made changes to their Playing XI in this series, have refrained themselves from repeating the same in the decider match. The only change for the hosts lies in fast bowler T. Natarajan coming in for opening batsman Lokesh Rahul.

“Pretty happy. We would have bowled first as well. Looks like an even better pitch than the last game. As a side you understand the areas we need to improve and if we can get confident defending totals, this is something we are looking to execute well.

“We have made one change today. Wanted to bring in good balance with bat and ball. I will be moving up the order and Suryakumar is that X-factor player in our team and we want to give him as many games as possible. KL Rahul misses out and Natarajan comes in for him,” Kohli told Star Sports during the toss.

Having scored 15 runs in four innings at an average and strike rate of 3.75 and 48.38 respectively, Rahul was expected to be benched for this all important match. Natarajan, who had made his T20I debut during the tour of Australia last year, will be playing his fourth match in the format tonight.