India’s batting all-rounder Deepak Hooda was not available for selection for the third and final T20I of the series at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Hooda was ruled out of the T20I due to back injury.
Hooda was not expected to be included in the playing XI for the third T20I against Aaron Finch-led Australia. However, Hooda was the 12th man for the game before getting ruled out. In his absence, Umesh Yadav was named 12th man for the high voltage encounter.
Hooda has not featured in the ongoing T20I series so far. His last T20I appearance was against Afghanistan in the dead rubber Asia Cup 2022 clash where he did not get to bat but picked up a wicket.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma brought back new-ball bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar back in the side in place of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant. The left-handed batter was included in the rain-curtailed eight overs per side game but did not get to bat as Dinesh Karthik finished the game with a 2-ball 10 in the final over.
Hooda did not impress with the bat in Asia Cup. He scored just three runs against Sri Lanka and 16 runs against Pakistan. He was included in the side to give India an extra bowling option in absence of an injured Ravindra Jadeja but did not get an opportunity to roll his arm in the two Super 4 games.
“We will bowl first. It's good to be back in Hyderabad and play in front of this crowd. We look to keep winning games, it's important to maintain your momentum in this format of the game, so it was a good win for us (in Nagpur). Australia have always been challenging, they bring in a different kind of challenge. We need to keep doing the basics right if we have to get success. The last win helped us gain confidence and I hope everyone steps up today. One change for us - Bhuvi is back, Rishabh misses out, we needed only 4 bowlers in the last game, so he (Bhuvneshwar) unfortunately missed out,” Rohit said at the coin toss.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
