India bring back Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prince Yadav for third T20I against West Indies

India brought back Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prince Yadav for the third T20I against West Indies in Indore. West Indies captain Shai Hope elected to bowl after winning the toss, with Quentin Sampson and Keemo Paul also included

Indore: India brought back seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Prince Yadav as West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third T20I at the Holkar Stadium here on Sunday.

West Indies came into the match after completing a thrilling, record-breaking run chase in the second game in Ranchi to level the five-match series at 1-1. A win for either team would give it a 2-1 lead in the series.

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With the Indore pitch traditionally regarded as a batter’s paradise, featuring short boundaries and a flat surface, both teams were braced for another high-scoring encounter. India captain Shreyas Iyer said Nitish and Prince had replaced Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing XI.

“The dew factor played a massive role in the previous game, on a given day it happens you need to have that mindset to put it behind. It’s important that we adapt and assess quickly to get to a commendable total. Given the dimensions we made those changes and we also needed someone who can hit the yorkers,” he said.

West Indies captain Shai Hope said Romario Shepherd had a niggle and was being rested for Sunday’s match, while Quentin Sampson and Keemo Paul had been included in the playing XI.

“I think we all know what I am going to do, so we are going to bowl first again. It’s going to be challenging when you are playing all three formats. Just about learning as quickly as possible in these conditions. We always know that catches determine a lot of games,” he said.

Playing XIs

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav.

West Indies: Shai Hope (captain and wk), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Keemo Paul, Roston Chase, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph and Gudakesh Motie.