Kolkata Knight Riders' fast bowler Harshit Rana was not selected to play for India in the entire T20I series against Bangladesh. Despite being an IPL champion with KKR, Harshit was one of the three specialist pacers in the Indian squad for the series, alongside Arshdeep Singh and the talented Mayank Yadav. While Yadav played in all three T20Is and Arshdeep in two, Harshit remained on the sidelines for all the matches.
In the third T20I against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, India chose to bat first. Captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed one change to the team, with Ravi Bishnoi replacing Arshdeep Singh.
Additionally, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has provided an update on why Harshit was not included in the team for the third match.
"UPDATE: Mr Harshit Rana was unavailable for selection for the third T20I due to a viral infection and did not travel with the team to the stadium," the Indian Board confirmed in a post on social media at the time of the toss.
Meanwhile, Indian captain Suryakumar appeared poised to present a formidable challenge to the opposing team by choosing to bat first and defend under dewy conditions.
"We would like to bat first, looks like a good wicket. These are the things we want to do. Set a target and defend the total with dew around. I think it's important to continue with the good habits, it will have a good impact on us. We just want to give freedom, the guys want to make an impact. Happy with the way the guys are playing. Arshdeep misses out, Bishnoi comes in," Surya said at the toss in Hyderabad.
In the meantime, Bangladesh has made a few adjustments by bringing in Tanzid Tamim and Mahedi Hasan.
"I am happy to bowl first, toss doesn't matter. We have two changes. Tamim and Mahedi are in. We need to take responsibility as batters. We need to improve, and execute our plans. Hopefully we do something special in the 40 overs," Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said at the toss.
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Parvez Hossain Emon, Litton Das(w), Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Nitish Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav
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