England are taking on India in the third and final ODI at the iconic Lord's on Sunday, July 19. During the game, players from both sides were spotted wearing black armbands as a mark of respect for Sir Garfield Sobers, who passed away on Friday. Both teams also observed a minute's silence before the start of play.
Sir Garfield Sobers, one of the all-time greats of the game, passed away at his Barbados home at the age of 89 on Friday (July 17). He represented the West Indies between 1954 and 1974, redefining the role of an all-rounder over a remarkable 93-Test career. Equally devastating with both bat and ball, Sobers was also one of the finest fielders of his era, leaving behind a legacy that few cricketers have matched.
England opt to bat as India make three changes for series decider
England won the toss and elected to bat first in the series decider. The hosts made one change from the previous game, bringing in Josh Tongue in place of Saqib Mahmood. India, meanwhile, were forced into three changes with Prince Yadav, KL Rahul and Arshdeep Singh replacing Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar.
The BCCI also provided an update on Bumrah's injury, stating: "Jasprit Bumrah had an impact injury on his left knee while fielding in the second ODI in Cardiff. He was not available for selection for the third ODI due to reactive swelling in his left knee."
Speaking at the toss, India captain Shubman Gill said, "We're not the one who relies on stats so much. We think he's a great bowler, and we were looking for four seamers on this ground. We have seen in the middle overs, spinners don't really offer much as compared to the fast bowlers. I think we were in a great position up until the 25 overs of the match, and then we lost too many wickets in the middle overs. So hopefully, if we're in that kind of position again, we post a total close to 280-300. We have seen it's not easy to score freely in the past couple of matches, so hopefully we can put the team in a comfortable position.”
