Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh returned to India’s playing XI after captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand in the third and final ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday.
“We will bowl first. That’s what we spoke (on the decision to bolw), batting first, New Zealand put us under pressure. One of the decisions we’re bowling first is that the surface looks good, don’t expect a lot of dew, runs on the board would let us chase better. Need to vary our lengths in the middle-overs, that’s what we want to do. One change, Arshdeep comes in place of Prasidh,” Gill said after winning the toss.
Arshdeep replaced Prasidh Krishna, marking his comeback after the Indian team management came under criticism from several experts for leaving him out of the first two ODIs. The seamer had been overlooked in favour of Harshit Rana and Prasidh, who partnered Mohammed Siraj in India’s pace attack. Siraj, meanwhile, had himself returned to ODI action after missing out since the Australia series last year.
Arshdeep’s omission in the opening match immediately became a talking point after India chose to bowl first. Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin subsequently delivered a strong, player-first defence of the left-armer, questioning the impact of the selection calls on a bowler’s confidence and rhythm.
