Why is Deepak Chahar not playing today’s IND vs AUS 2023 5th T20I?

Team India bowling all-rounder Deepak Chahar has been ruled out of the fifth T20I against Australia. M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is playing host to the series finale tonight (December 3). The hosts currently have an unassailable lead of 3-1 going into the final match of the series.

Deepak Chahar was not in the original squad for this series but was included later as a cover for Mukesh Kumar, who took a break midway for his wedding. He got a chance to play in the 4th T20I on Friday in Raipur.

Chahar departed for a 2-ball duck after coming in to bat. He then conceded 29 runs in his two overs in the powerplay but came back well to pick up two wickets in the death overs to help India defend 175 successfully. His career has been severely hindered due to fitness issues so far.

He will miss today's game as he went back home for a medical emergency.

Australia captain Matthew Wade won the toss and opted to bowl first in the contest. Speaking at the toss, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav opened up that he was also looking to bowl but was not too fussed about batting first. Surya said:

"We would have loved to bowl first but as long as we're losing the toss and winning the game I don't mind batting first. I've told them the same thing - don't change anything, do whatever you've been doing. You've got another opportunity to play another international game in front of an amazing crowd so just go out and express yourself. The way the batting unit has delivered, I've just enjoyed their batting. I've told them to just go out there and execute.

On the change in the playing XI and reason behind it, Suryakumar Yadav added:

"Only one change - Arshdeep comes back for Deepak Chahar, he has flown back home for a medical emergency."

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India's playing XI for today's T20Imatch:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh

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Australia's playing XI for today's T20I match:

Travis Head, Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Aaron Hardie, Tim David, Matthew Short, Matthew Wade(w/c), Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha