India captain Shubman Gill did not explain the reason for KL Rahul’s absence while speaking during the toss (Image credit: BCCI)
New Delhi: India made three changes to their playing XI for the third and final ODI against Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, with KL Rahul missing as Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first.India have already clinched the three-match series with a 2-0 lead and will aim for a clean sweep after their dominant 170-run win in Lucknow.
Why is KL Rahul not playing? Against Afghanistan?
India brought back Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey and Nitish Kumar Reddy for the Chennai ODI. As a result, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul were left out of the playing XI. Nitish returns after missing the second ODI due to pain in his left thigh, while Ishan Kishan takes over the wicket-keeping duties.Interestingly, India captain Shubman Gill did not explain the reason for Rahul’s absence while speaking during the toss.After losing the toss, Gill admitted that India would have preferred to bat first on the Chennai surface.“It looks like a very good wicket. I would have batted first too. It was very hot in the last match and it will be no different here. It’s about consistency in the areas we look at. We will be chasing in this match, and chasing big scores consistently and comfortably is one area we are yet to achieve.”
This is what we will look at today. Three changes. Prasidh, Harsh and Nitish Reddy are back,” Gill said.
Afghanistan captain Shahidi said the conditions and pitch influenced his decision to bat first.“We want to bat first today. It is always hot in India this month. The wicket also looks good. It is dry and tough. Hopefully we will have a good start in batting. In the last two games, we have given away some areas and have not bowled the way we have played in the past.”
Hopefully we can recover today and have good partnerships and be in the right areas. Four changes. Nabi Aad and Azmat are playing. (Reading from his palm) Shahidi said: Ziaur Rahman and Fareed Malik are there.Afghanistan made four changes to its squad, introducing Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi and Farid Ahmed Malik.
India vs Afghanistan third round : Playing eleven
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (week), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahma Shah, Heshmatullah Shahidi (captain), Darvesh Rasouli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Ziaur Rahman Sharifi, Farid Ahmad Malik.India: Yashavi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav.
