Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal: India have left out both their wrist-spinners for the third ODI to make a surprising change.
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During the third ODI of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Pune, England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to field for the second consecutive time.
“We’re bowling first, for similar reasons as the first two games. Very proud of the performance the other day, and it showed our passion. It’s important to continue playing the brand of cricket that we are known for. It’s been a fantastic tour with some great matches, and it’s come down to the last game of the tour that decides the result,” Buttler told Star Sports during the toss.
Announcing a solitary change to their Playing XI, Buttler announced that they have made a like-for-like change in including Mark Wood for Tom Curran. Curran’s two wickets in as many matches had come at an economy and strike rate of 7.30 and 60 respectively.
Why are Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal not playing the third ODI in Pune?
Having lost the toss on a majority of occasions in this series, Kohli talked about the same being out of his control. Unlike the previous two ODIs, Kohli revealed that he wanted to field first today.
“I would’ve bowled first again, but it seems like the toss is completely out of my control right now. It’s a hard pitch and has some grass covering. We’ve introspected and identified a few areas that we need to improve on, put up 20-30 more runs with the bat and put up a better show with the ball,” Kohli told Star Sports during the toss.
As far as the changes for India are concerned, Kohli and the team management have surprised one and all by bringing in fast bowler T. Natarajan for spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The development means that the hosts will take field with a lone spin-bowling option in all-rounder Krunal Pandya.
Given how Pandya’s solitary wicket in this series has come at an economy and strike rate of 8.18 and 96 respectively, India have sort of taken a gamble with their bowling unit especially after getting thrashed in the second ODI.
With spinner Yuzvendra Chahal also in the squad India were expected to bring him in for the chinaman Yadav for he had leaked 152 runs in 19 overs in the last two ODIs looking low on confidence. If all-rounder Hardik Pandya also bowls today, it will be interesting to see how Kohli operates with five fast-bowling options in a home ODI.
