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Explained: Why India ignored Rishabh Pant and brought Tilak Varma for Sundar in 3rd ODI vs SA

Debashis Sarangi

Tilak Varma picked over Pant for 3rd ODI [Source: AFP]Tilak Varma picked over Pant for 3rd ODI [Source: AFP]

In a significant development, India broke their jinx and won the toss in the third ODI against South Africa. With the three-match series on the line, India tweaked their combination a bit, replacing Washington Sundar with Tilak Varma. 

Why did India drop Washington Sundar for 3rd ODI vs SA?

Washington Sundar failed miserably with bat and ball in the first two ODIs against South Africa. While he couldn't scalp a single wicket, Sundar managed only 14 runs at a poor strike rate of 51.85 across two outings. Thus, the experienced campaigner's flop show in two successive games prompted the Indian think tank to exclude him from the decider. 

With Sundar getting ignored, India had a golden opportunity to pick swashbuckling batter Rishabh Pant for the decider. However, they opted for Tilak Varma, allotting the Mumbai Indians cricketer a crucial middle-order slot, due to the reasons explained below. 

Why India picked Tilak over Pant as Sundar's replacement?

To continue with KL Rahul as wicketkeeper

Explosive batter Rishabh Pant hasn't got a single opportunity in the ongoing ODI series between India and South Africa. As the Indian management made up its mind to drop Sundar for the third ODI, it could've utilised Pant in the middle order. 

However, had Pant played, he would've kept wickets, with skipper KL Rahul featuring in the side as a specialist batter. So, as India have evidently kept Rahul as their first-choice keeper-batter, they didn't make things complicated for themselves by bringing Pant back into the ODI setup. 

Tilak can chip in with a few overs

As Washington Sundar has been dropped, India had two options, barring Rishabh Pant, who could chip in with a few overs. While Nitish Reddy generally plays in the lower middle order, Tilak's ability to bat up and also give a few overs of off-spin help him pip his competitors in the race. The left-handed batter, being capable of bowling a few overs, thus entered the Indian XI as a batting allrounder in Sundar's absence.