With series tied at 1-1, Team India take on Australia as Rohit Sharma-led side won the toss and opted to bowl first in the third and the final T20I in Hyderabad on Sunday (September 25).
Rohit Sharma brought back Bhuvneshwar Kumar and dropped Rishabh Pant from India's Playing XI. Meanwhile, Aaron Finch also made one change to his side as Josh Inglis came in place of Sean Abbott.
“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. 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. One change for us - Bhuvi is back, Rishabh misses out, we needed only 4 bowlers in the last game, so he missed out,” India skipper Rohit Sharma said before the match.
“We would have fielded as well, it looks like a good wicket though. We always want to perform against the best sides, in that sense this is a very important game for us. The crowds in India have always been amazing, regardless of where they play. One change for us. Josh Inglis comes in place of Sean Abbott,” Aaron Finch said after losing the toss.
India lost the first match despite setting a colossal target but bounced back in the second T20I to level the series 1-1.
Team India relies on their spinners in the middle overs and while Axar has been a big positive, Chahal has faltered. He went for a lot of runs in the Asia Cup and the trend has continued against Australia. But the return of Bumrah will bring relief to the Indian bowlers after the star showed no signs of rust after returning from his back injury.
In the batting department, the famed top order comprising Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli needs to be more consistent. The trio has not fired in unison for a while. Suryakumar Yadav has also been patchy in the past few games with Hardik Pandya churning out match-winning performances.
Pitch Report
“It's a fairly large surface with even sized boundaries on both sides of the square. It's another good batting surface, the grass has been well rolled. Dew wouldn't be a factor tonight, but the captain winning the toss could still be looking at chasing down the score. Defending wouldn't be easy as the ball could come onto the bat even better under lights. In short, this is a belter,” Murali Kartik and Ajit Agarkar analysed the Hyderabad pitch.
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.
Australia (Playing XI): Aaron Finch(c), Cameron Green, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Tim David, Josh Inglis, Matthew Wade(w), Daniel Sams, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.
