England wins the toss and opts to bowl against India in third cricket ODI

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India’s captain Rohit Sharma, left, shakes hand with his England counterpart Jos Buttler after the coin toss for the third one day international cricket match between India and England in Ahmedabad , India, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/ Ajit Solanki )

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India’s Virat Kohli warm up before the start of third one day international cricket match between India and England in Ahmedabad , India, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/ Ajit Solanki )

By CHETAN NARULA

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss for the third consecutive match and this time elected to bowl in the third one-day cricket international against India on Wednesday.

It is the last warmup game for both teams ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

India already has a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match series following four-wicket wins at Nagpur and Cuttack.

With the series outcome already determined, there were changes across both lineups. Attacking batter Tom Banton was picked for England in place of bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton and he is expected to bat up the order.

For India, pace bowler Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja were rested and spinner Varun Chakravarthy didn’t recover from his debut outing in Cuttack.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, left-arm paceman Arshdeep Singh and spinning allrounder Washington Sundar were included instead.

Star pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was supposed to play this game to prove his fitness ahead of the Champions Trophy. But he was ruled out of that tournament owing to a lower back injury.

The pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium is a black soil base and it could become abrasive with variable bounce as the game progresses.

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Lineups:

England: Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (captain), Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood.

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Lokesh Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket