Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir wants Arshdeep Singh to play in place of Mohammad Shami in the third ODI against Sri Lanka. Shami played in the first two ODIs against the Island country and Gambhir wants Shami’s workload to be managed with guile ahead of the four-match Test series against Australia. Shami took only one wicket in the two matches against Sri Lanka.
With Jasprit Bumrah doubtful for the series against Australia, the onus will be on Mohammad Shami. After India took an impregnable lead of 2-0 in the ODI series against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hinted that there could be some changes for the final ODI against the visitors.
Rohit added that it will be important for them to keep the players fresh for the upcoming limited-overs series against New Zealand.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said, “I would like to see Arshdeep Singh come in for Mohammed Shami. Give Mohammed Shami a break because he will have to do a lot of bowling against Australia if Bumrah is not fit. And in the same time, you can groom Arshdeep in the ODI format as well. I don’t mind India rotating their fast bowlers, but you cannot give your batters a break; they got to keep playing consistently in the ODI format.”
On the other hand, Gambhir showered praise on KL Rahul, who played a gutsy knock of 64 runs off 103 balls to help his team chase down 216. Rahul scored his 17th ODI fifty and it was the slowest of his career but he played according to the match situation as India was struggling at 86-4. Furthermore, Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets and bowled a fine spell.
”I thought Kuldeep Yadav was exceptional, and KL Rahul played a very mature innings, which was very important. We have seen what he can do at the top of the order, but this was something that stood out for me. He used his experience and anchored from one end, which was the need of the hour after India had lost 4 wickets.”
The third ODI between India and Sri Lanka will be played at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
