Ace speedster Jasprit Bumrah was not named in the playing XI for the third and final ODI against England due to a knee injury he picked up in the previous match at Cardiff. India captain Shubman Gill confirmed at the toss that the pacer would indeed miss the series decider. Shortly after Gill’s confirmation, the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) also provided an injury update on the 32-year-old.
According to the BCCI’s update, Bumrah sustained an impact injury in Cardiff while fielding and was therefore not available for selection. The spokesperson also confirmed reactive swelling in his left knee.
Ahead of the toss for the third ODI, Bumrah was spotted having a discussion with captain Shubman Gill and senior batter Virat Kohli. In the two matches, the pacer played against England, and he returned with two wickets.
The series against England marked Bumrah’s first ODI assignment since the World Cup final loss in Ahmedabad in November 2023. The premier bowler was previously rested for the T20I series against Ireland and England, and he will also miss the upcoming three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, beginning Thursday, July 23.
What happened at the toss?
For the series decider at Lord’s, England captain Harry Brook won the toss and opted to bat. India made several changes to their playing XI. However, there’s still room for Kuldeep Yadav. India included Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh in the lineup, while KL Rahul also returned following his recovery from an illness. Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube missed out in the final match.
At the toss, Gill confirmed that he was happy to bowl first as he wanted to field if he had won the toss.
“We were bowling first. We have got three changes. Boom misses out; he’s unavailable due to some knee injury. And so is Washington Sundar. Dube also misses out. KL comes in, Prince Yadav comes in, and Arshdeep comes back into the team.”
When asked about picking Arshdeep Singh, Gill stated, “We’re not the one who relies on stats so much. We think he’s a great bowler, and we were looking for four seamers on this ground. We have seen in the middle overs, spinners don’t really offer much as compared to the fast bowlers,” he added.
India won the series opener, and then England bounced back in the next game to make the three-match series stand on level footing of 1-1. There’s everything to play for in the final ODI.
Here are the playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.
England: Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook(c), Jos Buttler(w), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue.
