Why Arshdeep Singh not playing today: India have refrained themselves from giving opportunities to reserve players in a dead-rubber.
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During the third ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of West Indies in Port of Spain, India captain Shikhar Dhawan has won the toss and chose to bat in a dead-rubber contest.
“We will bat first. We will like to post a good score. The best thing is everything is performing, nice to see that. That’s a big positive for us, happy with that. I feel that intent is important, but at the same time you need to be smart,” Dhawan told ESPN Caribbean at the toss.
Heartbroken after finishing on the losing side of two consecutive close ODIs, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran laid emphasis on remaining consistent to end an eight-match losing streak in this format.
“The first two games, we were heartbroken. We are motivated today. We need to get over the line. We spoke about batting 50 overs but we need to be more consistent. We will get to see the result eventually,” Pooran told ESPN Caribbean at the toss.
Why is Arshdeep Singh not playing today’s match vs West Indies?
The only change made by the visitors has come in the form of fast bowler Prasidh Krishna returning in place of Avesh Khan. A solitary like-for-like replacement means that India have surprisingly refrained from giving opportunities to reserve players.
Going by general discussions, wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan, uncapped batter Ruturaj Gaikwad and uncapped fast bowler Arshdeep Singh were expected to be playing at the Queen’s Park Oval tonight but that hasn’t happened.
It is noteworthy that Arshdeep had suffered an abdominal strain during the tour of England earlier this month. With BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) only providing an injury update for all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja today, it remains unclear if Arshdeep has recovered and has been left out or continues to recover whilst being with the national squad just like Jadeja.
Meanwhile, West Indies have made three changes to their Playing XI for this match. Batter Keacy Carty, all-rounder Jason Holder and pacer Keemo Paul have come in for batter Rovman Powell, all-rounder Romario Shepherd and pacer Alzarri Joseph.
