Why did KL Rahul Change India's Playing XI in Series DECIDER against South Africa?

At the toss in Visakhapatnam, team India Playing XI confirmed a key change for the third ODI, with Tilak Varma stepping in for Washington Sundar. After winning the toss, India chose to field first, and their unfortunate streak of losing 20 coin tosses in a row ended in the ODI format.

The skipper, KL Rahul, seemed glad at the toss, and the entire team was celebrating the toss win in a light-hearted moment. The switch from Washington Sundar to Tilak Varma was a deliberate call by KL Rahul and the team management to inject more strength into the middle order for a high-stakes series decider.

IND vs SA 3rd ODI Playing XI

The third ODI at Visakhapatnam’s ACA–VDCA Stadium turned into a high-intensity contest as India and South Africa locked horns with the series level at 1–1. After winning the toss, KL Rahul opted to bowl first. As far as the playing 11 is concerned, Washington Sundar’s limited impact with the bat across the first two matches played a major role in the call of dropping him for this clash, with the team management keen to boost run-scoring power for this decider fixture. Sundar getting dropped is the only change in the Indian lineup, while South Africa got a couple of changes due to injury concerns to Nandre Burger and Tony de Zorzi.

Tilak, regarded as a specialist middle-order batter, was preferred for his ability to control the innings and accelerate when required. The move showed India’s intent to prioritise extra batting depth and finishing firepower in a must-win contest, rather than persist with an out-of-form all-round option.

South Africa Batting Collapses and India in Firm Control of the Match

South Africa got dismissed for 270 in 47.5 overs, a total which was courtesy of a standout century from Quinton de Kock, who is among the best wicketkeepers in the world. But the Proteas innings was later pulled back by a crushing spell from India’s bowlers. De Kock played the defining knock for the visitors, scoring 106 off around 80 deliveries. However, his dismissal started a clear shift in momentum, with the rest of the batting order unable to pull the innings together and the Indian bowling restricting the total to a below-par score.

India’s fightback was led by the outstanding combined effort of Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav, who dismantled the batting line-up by sharing eight wickets between them. Prasidh's second spell saw him have far greater control and hit the right lengths to remove Matthew Breetzke and Aiden Markram, before providing the crucial breakthrough of the well-set de Kock.

Kuldeep complemented him perfectly with his spell of 4 for 41, including the wickets of Dewald Brevis, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch and Lungi Ngidi, as South Africa fell from a strong position into a dramatic collapse.