India vs England: India's Predicted Playing XI for 3rd T20I

Confident India will be looking to make the most of the momentum when they take on England in the crucial third T20I on Tuesday (March 16). Bouncing back in style after the loss in the first T20I, India thrashed England by seven wickets in the second game to draw level in the five-match series. With the momentum on their side, the hosts will be looking to take the lead in the series.

Asked to bat first in the second game, England scored 164 for 6 in the allotted 20 overs. Opener Jason Roy once again top-scored for the visitors, scoring 46. In reply, India chased down the total inside 18 overs with utmost ease thanks to impressive knocks from debutant Ishan Kishan and skipper Virat Kohli.

Here is India’s predicted XI for the third T20I against England:

Openers: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan

After being rested for the first two games, Rohit Sharma is set to return to the playing eleven for the third game. The senior batsman is likely to replace KL Rahul in the team due to the latter’s poor performance with the bat in the first two games. Rahul scored 1 run in the first game before being dismissed for a duck in the second.

Ishan Kishan looks set to retain his place in the team after his memorable debut. The southpaw took the England bowlers to the cleaners and slammed 56 off just 32 balls to lay the foundation for India’s chase. What makes his knock even more impressive is the fact that it came when India were under pressure after losing Rahul for a duck.

Middle-order batsmen: Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav

Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav are likely to form India’s middle-order in the forthcoming game. After being dismissed for a five-ball duck in the first T20I, captain Kohli roared back to form in the second with a sublime unbeaten knock of 73. The right-handed batsman would be keen to continue his form.

Iyer has started the series on a good note. The middle-order batsman played a fighting knock of 67 in the first game and scored an unbeaten 8 in the second. As far as Suryakumar is concerned, the Mumbai star made his debut in the second game but did not get the chance to bat.

Wicketkeeper and all-rounder: Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya

Rishabh Pant will be looking to put up a good performance in the upcoming game in order to cement his place in India’s T20I team as a wicketkeeper-batsman. Unlike the Test team, Pant does not have a guaranteed spot in the T20I team, and a few more failures could very well lead to his axing. He got the starts in the first two games, scoring 21 and 26 but could not capitalize on them.

Hardik Pandya is yet to impress in the series so far. The star all-rounder had a poor outing in the first game where he managed just 19 runs with the bat and went wicketless with the ball. In the second game too, he could not pick up any wicket and ended up conceding 33 runs in 4 overs.

Bowlers: Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

India are expected to play the next game with two pacers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, and two spinners – Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal. Barring Chahal, the other three bowlers had conceded less than 30 runs in the second game. Thakur and Sundar picked up two wickets while Bhuvneshwar and Chahal accounted for one wicket each.