Riding on Rohit Sharma's record-breaking century, India won the second T20 against West Indies and gained an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match T20 series.
After a fairly contested ODI series, West Indies was expected to give a tough fight to the Indian team in their favoured format. But unfortunately, they have looked completely out of sorts. The absence of regular openers has hurt West Indies badly, and the likes of Shai Hopes and Shimron Hetmyer haven't been able to extend their ODI form in the T20s.
On the other hand, Team India has looked unbeatable under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. After stumbling early on in their innings in the first T20, the Indian batting line-up came back strongly in the second T20 and made a mammoth score of 195 runs. Indian bowling has been accurate and has succeeded in restricting the West Indies to low totals.
Now that the series has been won, the Indian team might want to give chances to players who haven't had a game so far. Here is India's predicted playing XI for the third T20, which will be played on 11th at Chennai, against West Indies.
Openers
Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul
Rohit Sharma hit a whirlwind century in the second T20 and became the first player to have 4 T20 centuries to his name. Rohit has been impressive with his captaincy too, rotating his bowlers and setting attacking fields. He will look to wrap up the series with a clinical win in the third T20.
KL Rahul might open with Rohit Sharma in the final T20. Shikhar Dhawan has played all of the 5 matches in the ODI series and the first two matches in the T20 series. While Rahul warmed the bench throughout the ODI series, he played a good cameo of 26 runs in just 14 balls in the second T20 helping India reach 195 runs. It will be a fantastic opportunity for Rahul to get some runs under his belt before the tour of Australia.
Middle order
Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant
India might include Shreyas Iyer for the last T20. Iyer has been in scintillating form of late scoring 373 runs in 7 matches at an outstanding average of 93.25 and a high strike-rate of 108.43. Iyer will like to make the most of this opportunity to put his name in reckoning for a place in the Indian middle-order for the World Cup.
Manish Pandey made a comeback to the Indian side with some fine performances for India A. After being on the sidelines during the ODI series, Pandey was included in the playing XI for the T20 series. Pandey did not have best of the starts as he struggled in the first T20. Pandey will look to redeem himself in the third T20.
Rishabh Pant was included in the Indian T20 side at the expense of MS Dhoni. However, Pant hasn't been able to live up to his billing and has had a couple of failures so far in the series. He will be under tremendous pressure as his place in the T20 side is under threat.
Wicket-keeper and All-rounder
Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya
Dinesh Karthik guided Team India to victory in the first T20 after the hosts' chase was derailed early on by some hostile bowling by Oshane Thomas. Karthik, who has been dropped from the ODI and Test sides recently, has handled the pressure really well and has looked calm and composed. With MS Dhoni being out of schemes for T20s and Rishabh Pant still finding his feet in international cricket, Dinesh Karthik will look to seal a place in the Indian T20 side.
Krunal Pandya has had a fantastic start to his international career. After waiting for a long time for his turn, Pandya looks like a complete T20 package. He made a small but vital contribution in India's chase in the first T20 and has looked sharp with the ball as well. If Krunal continues his fine form, it will cause some good selection headaches for the Indian selectors.
Spinners
Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar
Kuldeep Yadav has troubled the Windies batsmen throughout their tour of India. The chinaman has been unplayable at times and has picked up a lot of wickets in one-dayers as well T20s. But the Indian team management might rest Kuldeep and bring his spin partner Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal has been out of the playing XI since the third ODI and it will be a good time for him to gain some confidence ahead of the T20 series in Australia.
Washington Sundar might make a comeback in the Indian side after 7 months. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder has had a terrific start to his career when he won the man-of-the-series award in the Nidahas trophy in Sri Lanka. However, he had a poor IPL and was then sidelined due to an injury. Sundar is a smart bowler and is highly effective bowling in the powerplays. His batting will add depth to India's batting line-up.
Fast bowlers
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed
After a mediocre ODI series and missing out in the first T20, Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a comeback of sorts with a tight spell in the second T20 at Lucknow. He bowled the knuckleballs to good effect and picked up a couple of wickets. Bhuvi will want to build a momentum going into the Australian series. Also, Jasprit Bumrah might be rested for the final T20. Bumrah has been India's premier bowler across formats and the Indian think-tank might want to keep him fresh and fit for the long tour of Australia. Bhuvi will have the extra responsibility of leading the bowling attack in the absence of Bumrah.
Khaleel Ahmed will look to extend his purple patch in international cricket. The left-arm seamer has impressed everyone with his swing and pace and will want to finish the series on a high with a strong performance at Chennai.
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