 "India will look to end the ODI series against England in style ahead of the Champions Trophy. AP")
Team India will look to sign off their 2025 ICC Champions Trophy preparations on a positive note when they take on England in the third and final ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. The Men in Blue have already sealed the series with four-wicket wins in both the opening matches in Nagpur and Cuttack.
The third ODI presents the opportunity for both teams to experiment with the playing XI for one final time ahead of the eight-team tournament. Having said that, it will be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant gets the nod ahead of KL Rahul.
KL Rahul, India’s preferred wicketkeeper choice, has endured disappointing outings with the bat, scoring just 12 runs across the two ODIs. In Rishabh Pant, India have a fearless and aggressive batter who can score runs at will. Similarly, India could make changes to their pace attack by possibly bringing in Arshdeep Singh for Mohammed Shami, who could be rested for this game.
And now that Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injury, the role of Harshit Rana becomes even more important.
Narendra Modi Stadium pitch report
The pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is expected to favour the bowlers. Out of the 31 ODIs that the venue has hosted, teams have surpassed the 300-run mark only six times. The seamers have taken 257 wickets at an average of 32.31, whereas spinners have scalped 137 wickets at 36.97. The teams batting first have won 15 matches, whereas the teams chasing have won 16 games.
Ahmedabad weather report
There won’t be any rain interrupting the third ODI between India and England in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. Clears skies are expected and while the temperatures are expected to be around 28 degree Celsius when the match starts (1.30 pm IST), it will drop to 25 degree Celsius as the evening progresses, meaning that it will be a lot cooler in the night.
India vs England ODI series squads
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy.
England: Jos Buttler (c) (wk), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Phil Salt (wk), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.