Why Mohammed Shami not playing today: Why is Mohammed Siraj not playing today’s 3rd ODI between India and New Zealand in Indore?

During the third ODI of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of India in Indore, New Zealand captain Tom Latham has won the toss and chose to bowl first in the hope of the surface getting batter to bat in the second innings.

“We are gonna have a bowl. It is a good surface and it will get better under lights. We have put good performances in the past and will look to put another good performance here. It will be high-scoring as the nature of the boundaries are short,” Latham told Star Sports at the toss.

New Zealand have refrained from making multiple changes to their Playing XI in spite of losing this three-match series. Their solitary change has come in the form of fast bowler Jacob Duffy coming in as a like-for-like replacement for Henry Shipley.

Why is Mohammed Shami not playing today vs New Zealand?

India captain Rohit Sharma lost the toss but still got what he wanted to do. Looking to bat first in this match, Sharma will walk out to open the innings with in-form batter Shubman Gill.

“We would have batted first. As a team, we want to get out and play well. It is a great ground to play in. Every time we come here, it has been a good score,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

India, meanwhile, have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI as both their new-ball bowlers in Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj have been rested for the third match of the series. Fast bowler Umran Malik and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have been included into the Playing XI as the hosts will take the field with three fast-bowling and as many spin-bowling options.

“What is important is to give chance to some of the new guys who haven’t had a game and see how they go,” Sharma added. Readers must note that both Malik and Chahal had played an international match in the Sri Lanka series earlier this month.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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