Team India captain KL Rahul won the all-important toss in the third and final ODI against Zimbabwe and elected to bat first. The Men in Blue made two changes to their playing XI that featured in the second ODI. Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan were included in the playing XI in place of Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
“We'll bat first. Just want to challenge ourselves. I've been short of playing time so I'm eager to get some runs and spend time in the middle. Siraj has been very good for the last couple of seasons, he's done well for his franchise and he's brought that form into the ODI game as well. He's very good when there's a bit of movement on the surface. Couple of changes - Siraj and Prasidh miss out, Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan come in,” the Indian captain said at the toss.
India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson(w), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan.
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Innocent Kaia, Tony Munyonga, Regis Chakabva(w/c), Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Victor Nyauchi, Richard Ngarava.
KL Rahul-led India will look to head into Asia Cup 2022 riding on winning wheels as they are a 3-0 series sweep against Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has so far struggled to put up even a semblance of a fight against star-studded India despite KL Rahul's misfiring form.
Having done exceedingly well to not just turn up but trump their hapless opponents on all fronts in the preceding two matches, India enters the third and final ODI knowing well that the script is unlikely to change at the Harare Sports Complex.
Zimbabwe will look to find a quick fix to their batting woes, while the bowlers would hope for a better show after gaining some confidence in the previous fixture.
After the 10-wicket drubbing in the series opener, Zimbabwe reduced the margin of defeat to five wickets in the second ODI.
India's squad: KL Rahul (C), Shikhar Dhawan (VC), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Shahbaz Ahmed.
Zimbabwe's squad: Regis Chakabva (C), Ryan Burl, Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans , Luke Jongwe , Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano , Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga , Richard Ngarava , Victor Nyauchi , Sikandar Raza , Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano.
