India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss again and elected to bat first in the third and last T20I match against Afghanistan at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Having already secured the series, the management made three changes to their playing XI while the travelling side made as many as four changes in their hope of a consolation win.
Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Yadav came in for India in tactical changes but once against Shubman Gill remained on the bench. Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel were dropped to the bench as India looked to give opportunity to all players.
Rohit registered two ducks in the first two games in this series on his return to T20Is after a gap of 14 months and needs some runs to justify his place in the team in the World Cup year. Kohli played an impactful knock in the second game in Indore and needs only six runs to reach 12,000 runs in T20 cricket.
India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan
Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran (c), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Fareed Ahmad Malik
Rohit said that there is no specific reason behind batting first as the management wanted to try some combinations after bowling first in the opening two games.
"We will bat first," Rohit Said. "We bowled in the first two games, so we'll bat today. Nothing to do with the wicket, just want to try some combinations and give some chances. We have ticked a few boxes, this is another opportunity to try new faces. We have made three changes -Sanju, Avesh and Kuldeep are in. Axar, Jitesh and Arshdeep are out."
