IND vs WI: Hoping Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Are Forced To Play 3rd ODI - Wasim Jaffer

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Wasim Jaffer is hopeful of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being to play the third ODI against West Indies National Cricket Team in a bid to avoid an embarrassing series defeat.

The series decider of the three ODIs between the West Indies National Cricket Team and India National Cricket Team is set to be held at the Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad on Tuesday, August 1.

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India won the first match by 5 wickets while chasing a small total of 115 and West Indies won the second ODI by 6 wickets while chasing 182 runs. Rohit and Kohli featured in the first game of the series, but were rested for the second match.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo ahead of the third ODI, Wasim Jaffer said that even Team India would not want to face a series defeat against West Indies, who have not qualified for World Cup 2023, as it will be quite embarrassing.

He expressed surprise over India’s decision to rest Rohit and Kohli for the second ODI and said that experiments should have been done after clinching the series win.

“India doesn’t want to be [beaten]. They’ll feel embarrassed if they lose this series with the kind of team that they have. Everything to play for both teams,” Jaffer said.

“It was surprising that Virat and Rohit weren’t playing. You expected them to win the series and then try something new or whatever you want to try in the third ODI after winning the series. I was surprised. Hardik [Pandya] said that they wanted some answers for whatever questions they had. I wonder what… there are not many positive answers coming in.”

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Just changing the team for one game, you are not going to get any answers – Wasim Jaffer on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli being rested

Jaffer further said that he is expecting to see both Rohit and Kohli return to the playing XI for the series decider and pinpointed that the Men In Blue looked in a confused state in the second ODI. He said:

“The series is on the line, so you might see Rohit and Virat coming back into the side. Just changing the team for one game, you are not going to get any answers. I am hoping Rohit and Virat are forced to play in the third ODI. We went into the second ODI in a kind of confused state. You don’t want to lose the series, which is on the line.”

The 45-year-old also wants India to retain Axar Patel in the team and leave out Mukesh Kumar or Umran Malik. He stated:

“Axar would be in my side in every game and I’ll pick either Mukesh or Umran because sometimes Umran can be very expensive. He is very inexperienced as well. He bowls with pace and sometimes that pace helps you to score runs.”

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