India will be looking to clinch a series sweep over Afghanistan when they meet for the third and final T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. With the series already in the bag and T20 World Cup 2024 on the horizon, captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid may look to ring in some changes to their playing XI. However, we must not forget that the IPL 2024 will run from March to May and will have a final say in what would be India’s squad for the ICC event.
Nonetheless, the third T20I still provides an opportunity for India to try out some new combinations against Afghanistan who will be raring to go in search of a consolation win.
So what are the changes that India can make?
Opening slot
There are suggestions that it’s a perfect opportunity to try out Rohit and Virat Kohli as openers. Kohli has a weakness against spinners in middle overs and it is felt that him opening could result in solving the problem. The former India skipper returned to T20Is after a gap of 14 months in the last match and smashed 29 runs off 16 balls. In the same game, Yashasvi Jaiswal made 68 off 34, replacing Shubman Gill at the top. The ideal thing for India will be to give Jasiwal another chance and hence it’s highly unlikely that India will promote Kohli for the last T20I. The veteran in any case is expected to open in IPL.
Wicket-keeper’s slot
We expect India to stick to the same batting order as the second T20I. Shivam Dube at No. 4, followed by Jitest Sharma and Rinku Singh. After Rinku, Axar Patel the all-rounder and so on. Now, should India bring in Sanju Samson? The Kerala keeper is a brilliant batter and here’s an opportunity to try him out once again in T20Is, but ideally India must pursue Jitesh. It seems like Jitesh Sharma is now the No. 1 wicketkeeper-batter for India and in such a case, he should get to play as many internationals as possible ahead of the T20 World Cup. The fact that he was dismissed for a duck in the last game should not matter.
Kuldeep Yadav to get a chance?
One change that India could make is to bring in Kuldeep Yadav into the bowling lineup as a replacement for all-rounder Washington Sundar. With Sundar not required to bat in both the T20Is, India should give Kuldeep a chance alongside Ravi Bishnoi and see how the partnership works.
One more possible change is Avesh Khan replacing pacer Mukesh Kumar. Mukesh has so far taken two wickets in six overs, giving away 54 runs. He has been decent but India should not miss out on an opportunity to try out Avesh once again in T20Is.
India’s predicted playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
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