India have been almost flawless in the ongoing series against England and would be looking to make a cleansweep of it in Ahmedabad. However, the one place where they have been shaken up in both ODIs thus far is in the final phase of their innings. KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya haven’t really fired which has led to India losing a cluster of wickets towards the end of their chase, even though the match would be done and dusted by then for all means and purposes.
While it remains unlikely that Rahul will lose his place in the Champions Trophy due to his form in these two matches, there is a chance that India might give Rishabh Pant a chance in the final ODI. However, instead of dropping Rahul, India could choose to rest Pandya, who has been quite effective with the ball in hand in the series. A fit and firing Pandya would be integral to India’s hopes of winning the Champions Trophy, especially with Jasprit Bumrah now ruled out.
Harshit Rana could keep his place, now that he has been announced as the replacement in the Indian squad for Bumrah going into the tournament. But will he warrant a place in the XI ahead of Arshdeep Singh? The left-arm seamer is India’s lead pacer in T20Is but hasn’t played in this series so far. In Bumrah’s absence and Siraj not being considered, one would like to believe Arshdeep is India’s best bet with the new ball along with Shami. That he is the only left-arm pacer in India’s squad, also gives him the edge over Harshit.
The big talking points will be whether India’s openers can continue the form they exhibited in the second ODI. Shubman Gill has been in fine touch, missing out on a century in the first ODI and playing the perfect second fiddle to a firing Rohit Sharma in the second. Ahmedabad is also the ground where he has scored truckloads of runs across formats.
Indian fans would especially be hoping to see Virat Kohli firing again, having seen Rohit get back to his best in the second ODI. Kohli is considered by many as the greatest batter of all time in this format and it will be a huge cause for concern indeed for India if his indifferent form in Tests creeps into ODIs.
Batters: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant
Wicketkeeper: KL Rahul
All-rounders: Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja
Bowlers: Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami
Last Updated:February 13, 2025, 21:07 ISTइंग्लिश काउंटी क्रिकेट क्लबों को काफी मदद मिलने जा रही…
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