India vs Afghanistan, 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma elects to bat
India and Afghanistan are set to lock horns in the 3rd and final T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Afghanistan's hopes of winning the T20I series against India were crushed as the hosts won two consecutive matches to seal the series. A complete performance still eludes them. Indian captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bat first.
India include Samson, Avesh, and Kuldeep
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ibrahim Zadran (captain), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Qais Ahmad, Mohammad Saleem Safi, and Fareed Ahmad Malik. India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (captain), Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Avesh Khan.
Venue, pitch report, and streaming details
The M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host the third T20I between the two teams on January 17. It is a great batting surface, and the short dimensions make it difficult to defend scores. Five batting-first teams have won the T20Is here from nine encounters. Sports18 will telecast the match, while JioCinema will allow fans to live-stream it from 7:00pm IST.
Afghanistan yet to win against India
India and Afghanistan have met in only seven T20Is as of now. While India remain unbeaten with six wins, one of these games was washed out. The two sides have locked horns thrice in the ICC T20 World Cup and once in the Asia Cup. Last year, the India-Afghanistan final at the Asian Games (men's T20 competition) had no result.
India's record at M Chinnaswamy Stadium
India have a mixed T20I record at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They have played seven matches at this venue, having won and lost three matches each. One game was washed out. The highest T20I score at this venue was when India hammered 202/6 against England in 2017. India also defended the lowest total here - 146/7 against Bangladesh in 2016.
