Third T20I: India wins toss, opts to bowl first against Proteas; Bumrah, Axar miss out

DHARAMASHALA(Himachal Pradesh) : India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa in the third T20I of the five-match series at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday.

With the series evenly poised at 1-1, both teams will try to gain a crucial lead. India and South Africa have won one game each so far in the ongoing series, setting the stage for an important encounter in the hills.

At the toss, Suryakumar confirmed that India will be without two key players for the match. Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah will not be available due to personal reasons, while all-rounder Axar Patel misses the game after falling ill.

“We’re going to bowl first. It’s been a good wicket all weekend and I don’t think it’ll change much, but there is a little bit of dew already and we feel it might get heavier later on. So, we’re happy to bowl first. It’s a wonderful place, wonderful people, and a fantastic ground. Hopefully, when we bat and bowl, we can give everyone some good entertainment. Every game is important. The way they played in the second game showed the beauty of this sport. What matters most is how you come back, and that’s what we want to do tonight, play our best game, enjoy ourselves, and be fearless. If we stay switched on for all three hours, that will be key for us. It looks like a good pitch. We’ve made two forced changes. Axar Patel misses out as he’s unwell, and Jasprit Bumrah misses out due to personal reasons back home. Harshit Rana comes in, and Kuldeep Yadav comes in,” Suryakumar said.

South Africa captain Aiden Markram pointed out the challenging conditions but backed his side to put in another strong performance.

“Very cold conditions, so a bit different from Johannesburg at this time of year. But it’s a beautiful venue and it looks like a wicket that could get better as the game goes on. It was a good response. We were well below the mark in the first game, so it was pleasing to see how everyone came back. Tonight is about backing that up and being consistent, which is always a challenge we look forward to. It does look nice. We’ll assess the first couple of overs and then take it on from there. Hopefully, we can bat well again and put a competitive score on the board. Have been lucky to play here a few times, day games, night games, it always has a different feel. The boys are keen to put on a show. We’ve made three changes: Miller, Linde, Sipamla are out. Bosch, Nortje, Stubbs are in,” Markram said.

South Africa (Playing XI): Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock(wicketkeeper), Aiden Markram(captain), Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Ottneil Baartman

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav(captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma(wicketkeeper), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy. (ANI)