Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel missed out as India face South Africa in the third T20I at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.
With the five-match series locked at 1-1, India and South Africa lock horns in Dharamsala to take the lead. While India will bank on their strong line-up, they will be missing a couple of key players in the Playing XI for their clash against the Proteas.
Why are Bumrah and Axar not playing?
Bumrah and Axar are not playing the third T20I as Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana come in place of the duo. India T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed the absence of the duo, stating that Axar is not well, while Bumrah is out due to personal reasons.
The BCCI also shared an update on the duo. "Axar Patel is unavailable for the third T20I due to illness," BCCI said in a release.
"Jasprit Bumrah has gone back home for personal reasons and will be unavailable for the game. An update on him joining the squad for the remaining matches will be provided in due course," BCCI added.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav won the toss for India. "We’re going to bowl first. It’s been a good wicket all weekend and I don’t think it’ll change much, but there is a little bit of dew already and we feel it might get heavier later on. So, we’re happy to bowl first. It’s a wonderful place, wonderful people, and a fantastic ground.
"Hopefully when we bat and bowl, we can give everyone some good entertainment. Every game is important. The way they played in the second game showed the beauty of this sport. What matters most is how you come back, and that’s what we want to do tonight, play our best game, enjoy ourselves, and be fearless.
"If we stay switched on for all three hours, that will be key for us. It looks like a good pitch. We’ve made two forced changes. Axar Patel misses out as he’s unwell, and Jasprit Bumrah misses out due to personal reasons back home. Harshit Rana comes in, and Kuldeep Yadav comes in," SKY said at the toss.
"Very cold conditions, so a bit different from Johannesburg at this time of year. But it’s a beautiful venue and it looks like a wicket that could get better as the game goes on," South Africa skipper said at the toss.
"It was a good response. We were well below the mark in the first game, so it was pleasing to see how everyone came back. Tonight is about backing that up and being consistent, which is always a challenge we look forward to. It does look nice. We’ll assess the first couple of overs and then take it on from there.
"Hopefully we can bat well again and put a competitive score on the board. Have been lucky to play here a few times, day games, night games, it always has a different feel. The boys are keen to put on a show. We’ve made three changes: Miller, Linde, Sipamla are out. Bosch, Nortje, Stubbs are in," he added.
