Follow UsMohammed Shami was finally named in the playing 11 of the Indian team for the third T20I of the five-match series against England on January 28 (Tuesday) at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
Thanks to this, he will return to international cricket after 435 days. He last played for India in the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia.
Shami, 34, replaced Arshdeep Singh in the playing 11 as India would now look to seal the series, having won the first two matches in Kolkata and Chennai.
This will be the best match practice for Shami, who will be a key component of the Indian team in the Champions Trophy 2025 in one month.
England did not make any changes to their playing 11 but instead of Phil Salt, Jamie Smith will keep wickets, as was informed by English skipper Jos Buttler, who once again lost the toss to India’s Suryakumar Yadav.
Surya chose to bowl first at a batter’s friendly Rajkot wicket.
Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Dhruv Jurel, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy
England Playing 11
Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith(w), Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Jos Buttler: Looks like a really good surface. We would've chased as well [on being asked to bat after losing the toss]. [Our] guys have had a good practice yesterday and we're excited for the match. We know how well India play, they're a strong team. We need a good total to defend. [We are going with the] Same team but Jamie Smith will keep wickets, he has got a little stiff calf.
Suryakumar Yadav: We will bowl first as it looks nice and hard, [I] don't think it will change later as well. Rajkot has always been a good track. We'll look at it as a three game series from here, boys are charged up. Arshdeep is resting and Shami comes in his place
At the pitch report, Parthiv Patel said that the wicket is as Rajkotish as it gets with no help for either spin or pace. Even 180-190 is not safe at this ground.