Why Arshdeep is not playing: Why is Rishabh Pant not playing today’s 3rd T20I between India and Australia in Hyderabad?

Why is Rishabh Pant not playing today: Both the teams have made one change to their respective Playing XIs for a series-decider.

During the third T20I of the ongoing Australia’s tour of India in Hyderabad, India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bowl in a series-decider. Sharma not opting to bat first has made it thrice in a row that the captain winning the toss has put the other team in to bat first.

“We will bowl first. It’s good to be back in Hyderabad and play in front of this crowd. We look to keep winning games. It’s important to maintain your momentum in this format of the game. So, it was a good win for us [in the second T20I in Nagpur],” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

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Much like Sharma, Australia captain Aaron Finch was also looking to bowl first in this match. It is noteworthy that Australia have a chance of winning their second consecutive bilateral T20I series in India tonight.

“We would have fielded as well. It looks like a good wicket though. We always want to perform against the best sides. In that sense, this is a very important game for us,” Finch told Star Sports at the toss.

Why is Rishabh Pant not playing vs Australia today?

Both India have Australia have made a solitary change to their respective Playing XIs for a must-win encounter. The changes for both the teams are essentially returning to their primary combinations after having undergone tinkering in a rain-affected eight-over match on Friday.

While India have brought back pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant, Australia have included batter Josh Inglis for pacer Sean Abbott.

“Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] is back. Rishabh [Pant] misses out. We needed only four bowlers in the last game. So, he [Kumar] unfortunately missed out,” Sharma added.

As far as fast bowler Arshdeep Singh is concerned, he isn’t part of the Indian squad for this series due to his presence at the NCA (National Cricket Academy), Bengaluru, for conditioning work.