IND Vs WI 3rd ODI: Hardik Pandya To Lead Again As Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Rested

Players like Axar Patel and Umran Malik have also been dropped as Jaydev Unadkat and Ruturaj Gaikwad chipped in.

Virat Kohli of India talks to Rohit Sharma of India.

The Indian team yet again rested their senior players Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma in the final ODI against West Indies on Tuesday. They are already under scrutiny as they lost the previous game they played in the absence of Rohit and Virat. By dropping the stalwarts again, team India made a bold statement and will look to seal the series without the services of Virat and Rohit. Apart from giving rest to senior players, the Men in Blue added Jaydev Unadkat who last played an ODI back in  November 2013.

Earlier, there were a lot of criticisms for the team India after they lost the second ODI against West Indies on Saturday. Ahead of the final game, there were calls for the pair of Rohit and Virat to return to the side but then the management decided to give rest to them again. This step of management clearly means that both Virat and Rohit who already got featured in their last game of the tour will not take part in the T20I series.

A look at #TeamIndia's Playing XI for the third and final ODI.

Two changes - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Jaydev Unadkat come in the XI for Umran Malik and Axar Patel. #WIvIND pic.twitter.com/WZHOXVARFb

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 1, 2023

On the back of the young guns, team India will be fighting to win the 50-over series. Players like Axar Patel and Umran Malik have also been dropped as Jaydev Unadkat and Ruturaj Gaikwad chipped in. Ruturaj’s selection in the playing XI will provide him another chance to prove his worth as he will be leading the side son in the upcoming Asian Games. 

India (Playing 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.

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Mukesh Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad.