Hardik Pandya makes 2 changes to India XI, Rohit-Virat rested again (BCCI Twitter)
Hardik Pandya captains India again, Men in blue to bat first; Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma rested once again for the 3rd ODI
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested once again for the third ODI, with Hardik Pandya retaining the captaincy for the series decider at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, August 1.
West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and invited India to bat first. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Jaydev Unadkat came into the side, while Axar Patel and Umran Malik missed out as Hardik made two changes to his side.
Pandya in his own ‘unique manner’ said that ‘it’s okay’ if India ends up losing the series to West Indies as they haven’t lost a series to the Windies by 2006 when quizzed about the same by the presenter.
IND vs WI 3rd ODI LIVE Score: West Indies Opt to Bowl First; Pandya Captains India in Series Decider
The Indian captain said that he had hoped to bat first expecting that the pitch might not change too much.
“Two changes for us. Ruturaj comes in place of Umran and Unadkat comes in place of Axar. Going to the decider the boys are pumped up and looking forward to the game. Looks good (the surface), I don’t think much will change, batting first gives a good opportunity for us to set a good total,” said Hardik after toss.
West Indies captain Shai Hope said that his side were looking to continue their winning momentum as he went with the same playing XI from the previous match.
“We gonna bowl first and extract as much as we can from the surface. We are playing the same team. Looks a better surface and expect the ball to come on a bit better. It is all about the process and we need to be more consistent with the results as well,” said Hope.
India XI: Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar
West Indies XI: Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Keacy Carty, Romario Shepherd, Yannic Cariah, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales
