Team India has handed debut ODI caps to as many as five players today that includes Nitish Rana, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Rahul Chahar and Chetan Sakariya. The tourist made six changes in total from the second ODI of the series and bolstered the pace department by including Navdeep Saini.
The players rested for the game include the heroes of the last game Deepak Chahar, the vice-captain of the side Bhuvneshwar Kumar, along with Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
Rana, Sakariya and Gowtham would be having their first-ever outing in the Indian colours, the likes of Samson and Rahul Chahar have previously played T20Is for the Men in Blue.
This is also the first-ever occasion in the 21t century that India has made six changes in their playing XI from the previous game in a single series. The last time India had more than five changes in the squad was in 1980.
The 27-year-old Rana, who has captained the Delhi Ranji team domestically is not a new name whatsoever to the Indian and IPL fans having represented Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders in 67 matches ever since debuting in 2013. Sakariya and Gowtham are reasonably new to the circuit with the former making a name for himself only in the current season of the IPL after a great Ranji Trophy-winning season with Saurashtra.
Samson, who made his India debut in the T20Is way back in 2016, has so far played in only seven T20is and haven’t had a memorable outing in any of them. Chahar, the leg spinner debuted for India in 2019 against West Indies and has since played only three T20Is.