IND vs AFG 3rd T20I: India will face Afghanistan in a dead rubber 3rd T20I on Thursday, September 17, at Arun Jaitley Stadium. With the series in the bag, Team India will now look to introduce Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into the side, as he has been the topic of discussion all week.
Vaibhav is also part of the Asian Games contingent, which starts in a few days. Naturally, the third T20I will provide a very good opportunity for Sooryavanshi to get some match practice under his belt before he leaves on that flight for Japan. Moreover, skipper Shreyas Iyer had said that he would like to give the players on the bench a bit of a go before the event in Japan. But it will be interesting to see who walks out of the 11 to make way for Vaibhav.
India could be tempted to tweak their playing XI, particularly with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson showing promising form. One possibility would be to manage Ishan Kishan’s workload by handing him a break and bringing Sooryavanshi into the side at No. 3. With Varun Chakaravarthy sidelined by injury and his participation in the Asian Games now also in doubt, Ravi Bishnoi is expected to continue leading the spin attack.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, are unlikely to make any last-minute alterations to their combination with the Asian Games approaching. Their primary concern will be to find a solution to the batting failures that have repeatedly hurt them during this series. A strong finish in the final game would not only give them a chance to end the series on a positive note but also provide some much-needed confidence heading into the Asian Games.
IND vs AFG 3rd T20I: Predicted XI
India Predicted XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson/Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan/Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh
Afghanistan Predicted XI: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq
IND vs AFG 3rd T20I: Squads
India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran(c), Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor ul Rahman, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Nangeyalia Kharoti