NEW DELHI: India made three changes to the playing XI for the third and final ODI against Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, with KL Rahul an absence as Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and batted first.India have already sealed the three-match series with a 2-0 lead and will aim for a clean sweep after their dominant 170-run victory in Lucknow.
Why is KL Rahul not playing? against Afghanistan?
India have brought back Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey and Nitish Kumar Reddy for the Chennai ODI. As a result, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul were left out of the playing XI. Nitish returns after missing the second ODI due to left thigh pain, while Ishan Kishan takes over the wicketkeeping duties.Interestingly, Indian captain Shubman Gill did not explain the reason for Rahul’s absence while speaking at the toss.After losing the toss, Gill admitted that India would have preferred to bat first on the Chennai surface.“Looks like a very good wicket. I’d bat first as well. It was pretty hot last game and it won’t be any different here. It’s about being consistent in the areas we’re looking at. We’ll be chasing in this game and chasing big scores consistently and comfortably is one area we haven’t quite marked the field yet. That’s what we’ll be looking at today. Three changes. Prasidh, Harsh and Nitish Reddy are back,” Gill said.Afghanistan captain Shahidi said the conditions and the pitch influenced his decision to field first.“We want to bat first today. It’s always hot in India this month. The wicket also looks good. It’s dry and hard. We hope to have a good start in batting. In the last two games we missed some areas and didn’t play the way we played in the past. Hopefully we can bounce back today and have good partnerships and bowl in the right areas. Four changes. Nabi is back, Azmat is playing. (Reads palm) Zia ur Rahman and Fareed Malik are there,” Shahidi said.Afghanistan made four changes to their side, bringing in Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi and Fareed Ahmad Malik.
India vs Afghanistan 3rd ODI : Playing XI
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (Capt.), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (Capt.), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (I.E.), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav.
