England won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the third ODI at Lord’s. Jasprit Bumrah missed the series decider with a knee injury, while KL Rahul returned to India’s playing XI.
IND vs ENG 3rd ODI: England opt to bat vs India at Lord's IND vs ENG 3rd ODI: England opt to bat vs India at Lord's (PC; BCCI/X)
England captain Harry Brook won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the third and deciding ODI at Lord’s on Sunday, with the three-match series finely poised at 1-1.
India suffered a major setback ahead of the must-win contest after pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out because of reactive swelling in his left knee, forcing multiple changes to the playing XI.
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The BCCI confirmed before the toss that Bumrah sustained an impact injury to his left knee while fielding during the second ODI in Cardiff and was unavailable for selection due to reactive swelling.
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KL Rahul returned to the side after missing the second ODI, while Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh also came into the XI. Washington Sundar was unavailable because of injury.
England made one change, bringing in Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood.
After winning the toss, England captain Harry Brook backed his side to make the most of batting-friendly conditions.
“We’re going to have a bat today. It looks like a good surface; hopefully, we can get a decent score on the board and put them under pressure.”
On the team selection, he added:
“Tongue comes back in for Saqib.”
India captain Shubman Gill admitted he would have preferred to bowl first but confirmed Bumrah’s absence.
“We would have bowled. Boom misses out due to a knee injury. KL, Prince and Arshdeep come in. We were looking to play four seamers. We were in a great position and lost too many wickets.”
With the series locked at 1-1, both teams head into the decider aiming to secure a crucial bilateral ODI series victory.
England will once again rely on the prolific Joe Root, who has remained unbeaten in both matches, scoring 76* and 99* to anchor the hosts’ batting.
India, meanwhile, will look to experienced campaigners Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to deliver in a high-pressure contest. Kohli impressed with a fluent half-century earlier in the series, while Rohit arrives at Lord’s amid speculation over his ODI future.
With the ODI World Cup less than a year away, Sunday’s clash offers both sides an opportunity to gain momentum as preparations intensify for the global showpiece.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna.
England: Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue.
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