The third and final T20I of the three-match series between Australia and India will be played on December 8, 2020, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
India already holds a 2-0 lead with wins in Canberra and SCG previously and having won the series, have the liberty to experiment with the playing XI for the upcoming game. Therefore, Team COC presents to you the Predicted Team India Playing XI for the third T20I at SCG.
Given that the openers in KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have done exceedingly well in the two T20Is so far, it looks farfetched that the Indian team management will tinker with the winning combination.
But the fact that India plays the first Test on December 17 and have a pink-ball warmup match, the management might be willing to give KL Rahul a break and have him rest before that important practice game. This means we might see Mayank Agarwal making his T20I debut for India in the 3rd match.
Apart from this, the batting may remain the same with Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and Hardik Pandya helming the responsibility of scoring runs. Dhawan is not in the Test squad and will leave after the 3rd T20I, so resting him is out of the question, while Kohli will be looking to repeat the 2016 feat of white-washing Australia in the T20Is again.
Iyer and Pandya were amazing as they chased down 37 runs in the last three overs to win the second T20I a couple of days back. There are reports that Iyer may stay back as a reserve batsman for the Tests and Hardik Pandya has been the best batsman by far for India in the limited-overs series.
Washington Sundar was unlucky not to pick up a wicket in the previous game but has remained an important part of India’s T20I plans. Yuzvendra Chahal dusted off his poor performance in the ODIs, with a Man of the Match one in the first T20I, but was hammered in the second match. He would like to go back to India on a high with a few more wickets in his kitty.
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Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, and T Natarajan have been amazing for the Indian team in the T20I series thus far and it will be expected of them to finish the series on a high note, by winning the last T20I.
This match will be important for many reasons, as it will provide the players, who will feature in the Test series, some much needed positive momentum.
COC Predicted Team India Playing XI for 3rd T20I:
Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, T Natarajan
