Gautam Gambhir torn apart for dropping Mohammed Shami in 4th T20I vs ENG

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Team India will be looking to bounce back when they lock horns against England in the fourth T20I of the ongoing five-match series. The game is being played on Friday (January 31) at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in Pune.

After winning the first two games, the Men in Blue had the opportunity to seal the series in the third T20I. However, England beat them by 26 runs in Rajkot to keep the series alive. In a game where fortunes swung from one side to another throughout, England eventually came out on top to keep alive their chances of winning a T20I series against India for the first time since 2014.

Batting first, England were reeling at 127/8 at one stage. Even the 150-run mark looked tough at that time but they eventually finished their innings on 171/9. Opener Ben Duckett scored 51 while Liam Livingstone also played a crucial knock of 43 runs. For India, Varun Chakravarthy picked up 5 wickets to take his tally in the series to 10 wickets.

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With the bat, India’s batters failed to impress once again. The hosts were reeling at 85/5 and never really looked in contention to chase down the total. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side eventually finished their innings on 145/9. Hardik Pandya (40) was the only Indian batter to score more than 25 runs.

Mohammed Shami dropped:

With the series on the line, Team India decided to make a few changes to their playing eleven for the fourth T20I. One of the big surprises from the team management was to drop veteran pacer Mohammed Shami for the crucial game.

The right-arm pacer Mohammed Shami made his much-awaited return to action for Team India in the third T20I. It was Mohammed Shami’s first game for India since November 2023. The veteran pacer could not hit the ground running in international cricket as he conceded 25 runs in 3 overs and failed to take any wickets.

And the team management decided to drop Mohammed Shami from the playing eleven after just one game, much to the surprise of many. Here are some of the reactions to Mohammed Shami’s ouster from the India playing XI.

Mohammed Shami made way for Arshdeep Singh who was rested for the third T20I. Arshdeep gave India good starts in the first two games and will be eyeing a similar performance in the fourth game as well. India also recalled Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube to the playing eleven. Rinku replaced Dhruv Jurel while Dube replaced Washington Sundar.

Meanwhile, England have won the toss and opted to bowl first in the penultimate game of the series. The visitors need to win the game at any cost to keep the series alive. England have also made two changes for the fourth T20I, bringing in Jacob Bethell and Saqib Mahmood for Jamie Smith and Mark Wood respectively.




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