As India has sealed the ongoing 3-match ODI series with two consecutive wins, for the remaining matches of the series, the Indian team management is expected to make some changes in the line-up.
At the pre-match conference in Chennai, batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate gave several hints about the probable playing XI for the third ODI against Afghanistan.
Arshdeep is sure to be dropped from the playing combination
Arshdeep Singh, who played the last match in Lucknow and took 3 wickets, may be on the bench tomorrow when the Men in Blue take on the Afghans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
If Arshdeep Singh is out of the team, and the team continues to play with three fast bowlers, Prasidh Krishna is expected to return to the line-up. Along with Prasidh, the pace trio could be Prasidh, Prince Yadav and Gurnoor Brar. Since Prince and Gurnoor are new to the team, they are expected to retain their places.
Will KL Rahul be the opener?
The former Netherlands batsman also mentioned that Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was out for just 4 runs in the previous match, is likely to secure his place ahead of India’s UK tour. Since Jaiswal is set to be one of the openers in the third match of the ongoing series, KL Rahul may continue to be the No. 5 batsman for now.
In the previous match, which was at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow, India scored a mammoth score of 402 runs, one of the highest by a team in ODIs, which included centuries from captain, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan.
For the match, Gill dropped himself to number three to make way for Yashasvi Jaiswal in the opening slot. Ishan Kishan came to bat at number four, Shreyas Iyer at number 5 and KL Rahul at number 6. While Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan scored a century each and Rohit Sharma scored 48 runs, Yashaswini Jaiswal was out after scoring just 4 runs.
Jaiswal was not originally in the team manager’s plans when the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee announced the squad. Due to Virat Kohli’s hamstring injury, the young left-handed batsman was named in the squad as a replacement.
As Team India is set to play back-to-back series against Afghanistan after the conclusion of the ongoing competition, the workload management of key players is under question. Since Arshdeep Singh is one of the key players of the white-ball team, he may be rested in Chennai ahead of India’s tour of the United Kingdom, where they will face Ireland and England before traveling to Japan for the 2026 Asian Games, which will also be a T20 format tournament.
