India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: India’s Predicted XI

The hosts India are now ready to face the visitors England this Sunday (28th March) during the third or last game of the three-match ODI series at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune).

Currently, this ODI series is standing in the 1-1 position. India won the first ODI of this series by 66 runs but India also lost the second ODI by 6 wickets.

India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: India’s Predicted XI

Rohit Sharma

Opener and Indian limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma is one of the in-form players in recent times. Though his scores in this ODI series were 28 and 25 runs respectively, he maintained the top status in the home Test series against England and the last T20I of the five-match T20I series against the same visiting sides.

Shikhar Dhawan

The left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan just missed out on his century in the first ODI of this series where he scored 98 runs. Though he was dismissed early in the second ODI, where the left-handed batsman scored just 4 runs, the team has strong faith in him for another good start in the ODI series decider.

Virat Kohli (C)

Indian captain Virat Kohli hasn’t scored a century in international cricket since November 2019. However, the right-handed batsman is currently in impressive form with the bat as he scored five 50s in the last six limited-overs matches. His scores in the last six innings were 73*, 77*, 1, 80*, 56 and 66 runs respectively.

KL Rahul

After a horrific T20I series, where KL Rahul scored 1, 0, 0 and 14 runs respectively after his return to the professional matches for the first time in this calendar year, the 28-year-old has scored 170 runs in the two matches of this ODI series. His scores in the first two ODIs were 68* and 102 runs respectively.

Rishabh Pant (wk)

Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is currently enjoying the strong batting form while he is also impressing with his wicket-keeping skills. After getting rest in the first ODI, Pant returned to the playing XI in the second ODI after replacing injured Shreyas Iyer and scored a quick-fire 77 off just 40 balls.

Krunal Pandya

All-rounder Krunal Pandya made his ODI debut during the opening match of this series where he recorded the fastest half-century on ODI debut (50 off 26 balls) and scored 58 not out off 31 balls. Also, in the second ODI, while the left-handed batsman came to bat in the 47th over of the innings, he remained not out on 12 runs off 9 balls. While he got one wicket in the first ODI (10-0-59-1), he was hugely expensive in the second ODI (6-0-72-0).

Hardik Pandya

The all-rounder Hardik Pandya didn’t bowl in the first two ODIs of this series. While he scored only one run in the ODI series opener, he played the firing knock of 35 runs off just 16 balls in the second ODI with the help of only four and 4 sixes. He is in good touch with the bat and also impressed with the ball in hand during the recently concluded T20I series.

Shardul Thakur

The right-arm pacer Shardul Thakur has recently impressed with the ball in hand as he especially provided some crucial breakthroughs that changed the momentum of the recent matches. Though he was totally off form in the second ODI, he bagged three wickets during the ODI series opener, including taking the most crucial wicket of the dangerous opening batsman Jonny Bairstow (94 off 66 balls).

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is returning to his familiar form with the ball in hand. While he has taken three wickets in the two matches of this series, he is maintaining the cheapest economy rate in this ODI series (4.89).

Prasidh Krishna

While many bowlers have struggled in this ODI series, the right-arm pacer Prasidh Krishna has highly impressed with his bowling skills. He made his ODI debut in this series opener and became the first Indian to pick up more than three wickets on ODI debut (4/54), and then he got two more wickets in the second ODI (2/58) as he is currently the most wicket-taker in this ODI series with 6 wickets in two matches.

Yuzvendra Chahal

The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal not had a great time during the recently concluded T20I series, where he got three wickets in three matches but also with some expensive bowling figures. But while the left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav hugely disappointed in the first two ODIs of this series, Chahal can replace him for the ODI series decider.