 "Jasprit Bumrah not rested: India captain Rohit Sharma says pacer is 'not well'")
Team India made one change for the third Test against New Zealand which starts on Friday. Jasprit Bumrah is the only change India made as Mohammed Siraj was brought back to the playing XI for the game that will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While explaining the decision, India captain Rohit Sharma said that Bumrah was unwell hence Siraj had replaced him.
Bumrah recovering from viral illness
The reports of India deciding to rest Bumrah for the third Test were already doing the rounds even before the toss took place, but the news of the pacer being unwell came as a surprise.
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“We understand and accept that we haven’t played well through the series. Gives us another opportunity to try and correct those things. Looks like a good pitch. Hopefully, we can restrict them as quickly as possible and then focus with the bat,” Rohit said at the toss.
“Our focus is on this Test match. We want to try and play well in this Test match. In the back of your mind, you need to look at what lies ahead, but it’s important to stay in present, focus on what we need to to today and worry about all those things later. It’s important that we play our best cricket which we haven’t in this series. Unfortunately, Bumrah is not well, Siraj comes in for him.”
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Later in a statement, BCCI said that Bumrah is unavailable for the Mumbai Test as he is still recovering from a viral illness.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Mr Jasprit Bumrah has not fully recovered from his viral illness. He was unavailable for selection for the third Test in Mumbai.”
Two changes for Kiwis
New Zealand have made two changes as Michell Santner, who took 13 wickets at Pune to help the visitors win the second match by 113 runs and clinch a historic Test series win in India, misses out due to side strain. He has been replaced by Ish Sodhi while Matt Henry comes in for Tim Southee.
New Zealand won the first Test in Bengaluru by eight wickets and lead the three-match series 2-0.
Team India, meanwhile, has retained three spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Ravichandran Ashwin, which means we can expect a spin-friendly track at Wankhede.
India playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand playing XI: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke
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