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Select Team: Should India drop Bumrah, Chahal?

November 30, 2020 16:32 IST

Pick your Indian team for the final ODI against Australia in Canberra on December 2.

Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images/span>
 

Having surrendered the ODI series after two thumping losses, India will look to avoid the ignominy of a series whitewash when they take on high-flying Australia in the final ODI in Canberra on Wednesday.

For the second match in a row, India's bowlers flopped as Australia's batsmen amassed a mammoth 375 plus score in consecutive games.

Captain Virat Kohli and Head Coach Ravi Shastri must make urgent changes to the team if India has to come away from the first series encounter with the Aussies with some self respect.

The form of strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah is a huge concern; Boom Boom went for a lot of runs in both games -- 1/73 and 1/79.

Kohli also needs to look beyond his RCB team-mate Navdeep Saini who looked completely out of sorts in the first two games.

Another RCB star Yuzvendra Chahal has struggled against Australia's attacking batting line-up. The leggie picked up just one wicket in the first two ODIs while giving away 160 runs in 19 overs.

It may be time to think the unthinkable and give Bumrah and Chahal a break and keep them fresh for the three-match T20I series.

Kohli and Shastri could replace them with Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur, both of who must be anxious to prove their worth.

Struggling Saini must make way for left-arm pacer Thangarasu Natarajan who impressed in the IPL with his ability to bowl yorkers consistently in the death overs.

With the ODI series lost, perhaps the skipper and coach could make some changes in the batting as well.

K L Rahul could open the innings with Shubham Gill -- resting Shikhar Dhawan -- while Manish Pandey and Sanju Samson could take Mayank Agarwal and Shreyas Iyer's places.

But we wouldn't bet on all these changes, given Kohli's allergy to experimentation.

Who should be part of India's playing XI for Wednesday's final ODI? Pick your team by clicking on the boxes below:

HARISH KOTIAN