India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Preview And Prediction

The hosts India and the visitors England will now meet for the third or last game of the three-match ODI series at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune) this Sunday (28th March).

Currently, this ODI series is standing in the 1-1 position where the hosts won the first ODI by 66 runs but the visitors levelled the series after winning the second game by 6 wickets.

India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Preview

India

After an impressive victory in the first ODI of this series, the hosts India suffered a big defeat in the second ODI despite scoring 336 runs in the first innings.

Indian batsmen are currently in great form as Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, captain Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant etc all are in good form along with the Pandya brothers. Among these cricketers, only the limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma has failed to score at least one 30+ knock in this ODI series (28 and 25 runs) but he can fire up in the last ODI, just like he did in the Test and T20I series against this England team.

Though Prasidh Krishna has played only two ODIs, he is currently the most wicket-taker in this ODI series. While most of the bowlers are struggling, Krishna has taken 6 wickets in two matches of this series. Another right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is getting back his form, which is another good sign for the hosts. While he has picked up three wickets in this ODI series, his economy rate in this series is 4.89.

Though Shardul Thakur wasn’t effective in the last ODI, who also got three wickets in the first ODI, he is providing crucial breakthroughs in most of the important moments.

Full Squad

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur.

England

After losing the first ODI of this away series, England have incredibly returned to the ODI series by winning the second ODI despite missing the regular captain Eoin Morgan and Sam Billings due to their respective injuries> While Morgan is already out for the series finale, there is no confirmation about Billings’ availability for the third ODI.

Opening batsman Jonny Bairstow is currently in great form with the bat in ODIs as he scored 94 off 66 balls and 124 runs off 112 balls in the first two ODIs. Another opener Jason Roy has maintained his incredible batting form in both the limited-overs series in this tour as after scoring three 40s in the five-match T20I series, Roy scored 46 and 55 runs in the first two ODIs.

After some fighting performances in the Test and T20I series in this tour, all-rounder Ben Stokes has already impressed in the first two ODIs of this series. While he bagged three wickets in the first ODI (3/34), Stokes played the game-changer role in the second ODI where he smashed 99 off just 52 balls, including 49 runs off just the last 12 balls.

The top-middle order and middle-order batsmen need to provide some good support. Jos Buttler, who is now leading the England ODI team in the absence of Eoin Morgan, batted very well in the T20I series of this tour but scored 2 and 0 runs in the ODI series.

England bowlers haven’t much enjoyed this ODI series well.

Full Squad

Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, Dawid Malan.

India vs England 2021, 3rd ODI: Match Prediction

While the ODI series is currently in level position by a 1-1 margin as both teams have an equal chance to win this ODI series, there is no such favourite for the series-decider ODI. However, India always have strong records at home, especially in the crucial matches of any series.