India has made changes to their lineup for the 3rd ODI against Australia by including specialist wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy. Another alteration saw pacer Prasidh Krishna replacing Arshdeep Singh, a move that caught many fans off guard.
Playing for pride in the Sydney ODI after losing the series in Perth and Adelaide, the Men in Blue faced criticism for omitting Kuldeep from the first two matches. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill faced scrutiny for their team selection following the defeats.
In an unfortunate streak, India once again lost the toss in the Sydney ODI, extending their record of consecutive tosses lost in ODIs to 18 matches. The bowling lineup now includes Axar Patel and Washington Sundar as spin-bowling all-rounders, with Kuldeep as the designated spinner, supported by Mohammed Siraj and Harshit Rana in the pace attack.
Australia also made a surprising change to their playing XI from the Adelaide clash, with Nathan Ellis returning to the side as Xavier Bartlett made way. Bartlett had made an impact in the previous ODI, taking crucial wickets of India captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli.
The lineups for the 3rd ODI are as follows:
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Australia Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Matt Renshaw, Alex Carey(w), Cooper Connolly, Mitchell Owen, Nathan Ellis, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood