Bishnoi set to be dropped as India look to play extra seamer in third T20
Yet to win a game in the ongoing tour of the UK, a desperate India will most certainly include an additional pacer at the expense of out-of-sync leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in the third T20 International against England here on Tuesday.
Under new skipper Shreyas Iyer, India have lost three out of their four games, including a humiliating 0-2 series loss to Ireland.
Bishnoi, whose three back-foot no balls and a 29-run over cost India the second T20 International, had looked horribly out of rhythm during his wicketless spell that leaked 60 runs in four overs at Manchester.
There were a lot of questions asked on whether conditions at Old Trafford warranted a third specialist spinner when Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy were already on board. At Trent Bridge, there is little chance that Bishnoi, who was even dropped by his franchise, Rajasthan Royals in the last edition of the Indian Premier League, will be considered for this particular game.
It is expected that a pace bowler will come into the eleven and Prince Yadav, with his ability to move the ball in the air and off the surface, looks a better candidate compared to Prasidh Krishna, whose natural back-of-the-length deliveries are easy to hit in the T20 format.
Arshdeep Singh got three wickets in the last game, including a double in his opening over, but he would also agree that the 27 runs that England skipper Harry Brook took off him were also a big reason for the hosts chasing down the target of 191 with an over to spare.
While the third T20 International will be a day-night affair, the Trent Bridge surface promises to be a good one for batting, where Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can enthral his legion of fans along with the in-form Abhishek Sharma. Having played 90 per cent of their matches on flat decks for the past six months, including IPL, the Indian batting unit is also struggling to cope with extra bounce, some off-the-surface movement and also the variations used by someone like a Sam Curran.
Skipper Iyer, and one down Ishan Kishan have got a few runs but they will be first ones to put hands on their hearts and admit that they haven’t exactly dominated the English attack.
