After being benched despite being India’s leading T20I wicket-taker, Arshdeep Singh is finally back in the XI for the 3rd T20I in Hobart.
India have often preferred extra batting depth under head coach Gautam Gambhir, which led to Arshdeep warming the bench — a move that drew strong reactions from fans and even Ravichandran Ashwin, who recently urged the team to rethink their strategy.
Arshdeep has 101 wickets in 65 T20Is at an average of 18.76, excelling both in the powerplay and at the death. With India opting to bowl first today, all eyes will be on the left-arm pacer as he returns to the attack and looks to make an immediate impact.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh(c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis(w), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Matthew Kuhnemann
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
Mitch Marsh: It’s a belter of a wicket. Want to get off to a good start and post a big total. We have just the one change – Abbott is in for Hazlewood.
Suryakumar Yadav: We are going to bowl first. The ball will come on nicely to the bat in the 2nd innings. Happy to take it one game at a time. We have three changes – Jitesh, Arshdeep and Washington come in.
