Ace India bowler Jasprit Bumrah and star all-rounder Axar Patel are missing out on the third T20I against South Africa on Sunday, December 14, in Dharamsala, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav naming Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav as replacements after having won the toss and opted to field.
Bumrah didn’t have a great outing in the second T20I in Mullanpur, having been smacked for 45 runs in his four overs, without any wickets to his name, on a rare occasion. He picked up two wickets in India’s win in the first T20I in Cuttack.
Axar, on the other hand, scored a run-a-ball 21 in the second game and managed to pick up one wicket, but that didn’t help India’s cause either. In the first T20I, he played another tedious, 21-ball 23-run knock but picked up two
wickets.
“We are going to bowl first. It has been a good wicket all weekend and I don’t think it will change much, but there is a little bit of dew already and we feel it might get heavier later on,” Suryakumar said while speaking to former India head coach Ravi Shastri at the toss.
“We have made two forced changes. Axar Patel misses out as he is unwell and Jasprit Bumrah misses out due to personal reasons back home. Harshit Rana comes in and Kuldeep Yadav comes in,” Suryakumar added.
Meanwhile, despite having won the second T20I, South Africa made three changes. Corbin Bosch, Anrich Nortje and Tristan Stubbs were included in the playing XI, replacing David Miller, George Linde and Lutho Sipamla.
“Very cold conditions, so a bit different from Johannesburg at this time of year. But it is a beautiful venue and it looks like a wicket that could get better as the game goes on,” South Africa skipper Aiden Markram said.
“We have made three changes: Miller, Linde and Sipamla are out. Bosch, Nortje and Stubbs are in,” Markram added.
