IND Vs ENG: Will The Decision To Pick Four Seamers Haunt Virat Kohli On A Pitch Favoring Spinners?

India dropped Kuldeep Yadav and picked an extra pacer T Natarajan. But will that be fruitful in a match where four Indian top-order batsmen got out to spinners?

Image Courtesy: AFP

India vs England 3^rd ODI is going to be the perfect end to a blockbuster series. With the series tied at 1-1, both teams would be thinking of winning the final ODI and seal the series in their favor. After losing an all-important toss, yet again, India were put into bat buy Jos Buttler in the 3^rd ODI. Four Indian top order batsmen got out to the England spinners. But India have decided to go in the match with four pacers and just one spinner in the form of Krunal Pandya.

Virat Kohli would be in dilemma about his decision as all the top order batsmen got out to the England spinners. But his decision to play an extra pacer in place of Kuldeep Yadav comes amid the onslaught faced by the Indian spinners in the 2^nd ODI. The two Indian spinners went for 156 runs in the 16 overs that they bowled between them. Krunal got a chance ahead of Kuldeep due to his batting abilities.

If India want to pose a challenge on a pitch which is more suitable for England batsmen - as the ball comes on to the bat at a good pace – the hosts will have to bat out of their skins to pose a big enough total that would challenge the batting of the visiting team.

Will this decision to play an extra pacer fare well for the Indian captain or the Indian bowling would fall flat just like it did in the 2^nd ODI? We will have to wait till England batsman come out to bat.

Playing XI of both teams:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, T Natarajan

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Mark Wood