IND vs ENG 2025: Why is Arshdeep Singh not playing 3rd T20I vs England?

Suryakumar Yadav chooses to start in Rajkot.

On Tuesday, January 28, the third T20I of the series between India (IND) and England (ENG) would be played in Rajkot’s Niranjan Shah Stadium. Following the first two games, the Men in Blue are in the lead. The previous two games were won in Chennai and Kolkata, respectively, with considerable ease.

Arshdeep Singh rested, and Shami rejoined Team India after a 14-month absence.

In the meantime, Captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bowl first after winning the toss once more. He described his motivation for pursuing and the atmosphere in the Indian dressing room.

“We’ll bowl first; it looks good and challenging, so don’t expect it to alter later either. There is no doubt that Rajkot will be a sporting event; it has always been a good track. Though you have to appreciate the circumstances, we wanted to play a different kind of cricket, and he (Tilak) bailed out the team. Now that we’re revved up, we’ll consider it a three-game series. Suryakumar said at the toss, “Shami enters while Arshdeep is sleeping.”

The news that Suryakumar Yadav announced had the whole Indian cricket community eager to hear it. The returning Mohammed Shami took Arshdeep Singh’s place, despite the fact that he honestly did not do much wrong in the first two games. India’s top wicket-taker in Twenty20 Internationals, Arshdeep, finished the opening game with impressive numbers of 2/17. He let up 40 runs in his allocated four-over quota in Chennai, therefore he was on the losing end.

When you don’t know, Shami last played for India in the November 2023 Cricket World Cup final. This will be his first international appearance after a 14-month hiatus. His bowling pace and rhythm today and throughout the rest of the white-ball series will be fascinating to watch.

England will have Jamie Smith wear wicketkeeping gloves.

However, Jos Buttler pointed out the significance of this match and the internal switch England made to their starting lineup.

“The surface appears to be excellent, and I’m excited to bat. We would have also pursued. The wicket appears to be decent, the boys practiced well yesterday, and we are eager for the game. It was a great cricket match; we battled hard and pushed them all the way. Tonight, we have to play exceptionally well. We are aware of India’s skill level; they are a formidable team. To defend, we must have a solid total. Jamie Smith will take wickets for the same squad, although Salt has a slightly stiff calf,” Buttler said.

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Dhruv Jurel, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy.

England: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith (wk), Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.