New Delhi. When the Indian team lands at Lord’s on Sunday for the decisive third ODI against England, the eyes of the entire cricket world will be on ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma. Amidst all the speculations, BCCI has clearly said that this will not be the last international match of Rohit’s career, but the former India captain, who failed in the first two matches, would definitely like to prove himself. Rohit, who plays excellent pool shots on the front foot and plays spinners all around the field, did not appear to be in that rhythm in this series, which gave rise to speculations that the 39-year-old veteran will not be able to play the ODI World Cup to be held in South Africa next year.
Fans desperate to see Rohit’s ‘Hitman’ avatar
Rohit played nine dot balls on the difficult pitch of Cardiff after which he was out. The batting friendly pitch at Lord’s, known as the ‘Home of Cricket’, might help them find their rhythm. As captain, Rohit has always played risky shots in the powerplay while leading from the front. His fans want to see the same Rohit on Sunday. In the first ten overs, he will have to face the stormy balls of Joffra Archer.
Middle order will also have to show strength
Captain Shubman Gill would also like to play a big innings, who was out easily at Sophia Gardens. On the other hand, Virat Kohli’s excellent form continues. He was moving towards a century on Thursday, but was out on Archer’s ball, after which India’s middle order collapsed and the team had to face defeat. Now the Indian team will take a lesson from it.
Ishan Kishan, who came in place of KL Rahul, lost his wicket on a short ball. The weakness of the Indian batsmen became evident in front of the bouncing balls. Shreyas Iyer played well in the middle order and faced the spinners well along with Adil Rashid. Kuldeep Yadav can be fielded in bowling because Washington Sundar is injured. In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel has done the job of spin all-rounder well. Indian bowlers will have to control the bat of Joe Root who is scoring runs like Kohli. Apart from Root, other batsmen of England have not done anything special.
India has been searching for victory for 22 years
India played its first ODI match at Lord’s in 1975. However, his first win here was against West Indies in the 1983 World Cup. After this, Team India dominated by winning the next three ODI matches at Lord’s, but since 2004, whenever Team India has come to play an ODI match at Lord’s, it has got defeat. Shubman Gill’s team would like to end this drought of victory. In the last four ODI matches, India has been defeated here by England only. In such a situation, it is not going to be easy.
India team: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav.
England team: Harry Brook (captain), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Joe Root, Jacob Bethel, Will Jacques, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, James Coles, Sam Curran, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Jos Tongue, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid.
