Former England captain Michael Vaughan urged Indian National Cricket Team to make two necessary changes to its playing XI in the upcoming third ODI against England on March 28, 2021, to be played at the MCA stadium in Pune.
The series stands 1-1 with England hammering India in the second ODI on March 26 to level the series in what can only be called as a thumping chase. The visitors buoyed by Jonny Bairstow’s 124, Ben Stokes’ 99, and Jason Roy’s 55, chased down 337 runs with more than 6 overs to spare.
Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes (Image Credit: Twitter)
Not a single bowler was spared by Stokes and Bairstow who added 175 runs for the second wicket in around 115 balls. Michael Vaughan feels that India needs a change in the bowling department urgently and encouraged them to bring in two talents into the playing XI for the series decider.
I’ll Bring In T Natarajan And Washington Sundar To Strengthen The Batting And Not Risk Hardik Pandya Bowling Much: Michael Vaughan
Michael Vaughan believes India should recall T Natarajan and Washington Sundar for the ODI series decider against England. India’s spinners had a bad day at the office with Kuldeep Yadav going for 84 runs in his 10 overs, while Krunal Pandya got plastered for 72 runs in just 6 overs. Virat Kohli was at the end of his wits as his spinners failed to pick a single wicket.
T Natarajan [Image-Getty]Michael Vaughan felt that India should go for T Natarajan who is a brilliant death overs bowler and also opt for Washington Sundar over Kuldeep Yadav, which gives them batting depth and urged the top order to go hard at the England bowlers from the start.
“I guess it depends on how much the teams put on this one game and a series victory. Are they that desperate for the team to win that they may risk Hardik Pandya bowling? We don’t know how bad his body is right now. I’d bring in Natarajan, the left-armer. Washington Sundar for [Kuldeep] Yadav as well so you pack your batting and you can go a bit harder at the top,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
England need to give Matt Parkinson a game here: Michael Vaughan
Not only just India but Vaughan also opined on the type of changes England should make in the third and final ODI against India. England has been winless on this long India tour, losing the 4-match Test series 1-3 and the five-T20I series 2-3, despite being 2-1 up at one stage.
“Mark Wood may get a mention if his body is fine. He may come in for Tom Curran. I thought Reece Topley was very good. They would have wanted to give Parkinson a go but I don’t know if they’ll throw him in for a game. It depends how much importance they put on this one-off decider. If it’s about developing the team for two years’ time then I would throw him in,” Michael Vaughan said.
“Rashid is one of the players that England will find very difficult to replace. He’s an unbelievable performer so they need to find games for Parkinson or another leg-spinner just in case Rashid doesn’t make it to the next [50-over] World Cup. I think he will but you don’t want to risk it so I would be tempted to give Parkinson a game over Rashid,” Michael Vaughan said.
England will be looking to push forward to winning this series and justifying their ODI World Champions tag, while hosts India would look to finish the England series with yet another series.
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