Series wrapped up, India look to assess bench strength

Overview

**India v Windies**3rd T20I
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Sunday, 11 November, 7.00pm local, 1.30pm GMT

On Friday, it was announced that all of Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav had been rested for the game, with Siddharth Kaul, the medium pacer, being called up to the squad. With the likes of Washington Sundar, Khaleel Ahmed and Shahbaz Nadeem in the fray for the final clash, India could field a relatively inexperienced bunch.

But the scrutiny is on India's batting. Apart from Rohit Sharma, the stand-in skipper, no Indian batsman has crossed fifty so far in the series, and the likes of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have failed to grab their opportunities in the absence of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Meanwhile, Sharma scored a 61-ball 111 in the second T20I to power India to victory, and is now just 69 runs away from overtaking Martin Guptill as the leading run-scorer in T20I history. The Windies bowlers will be wary of him.

That said, it is their batsmen who need to step up – The Windies have failed to go past 125 runs in the series so far. They will, however, be hopeful of doing that this time around against an Indian side without Kuldeep Yadav.

Oshane Thomas and Carlos Brathwaite, the captain, have done well with the ball, and if the rest of the attack can hit their lines and lengths consistently, the Indian batsmen can be troubled. The visitors might also consider giving left-arm pacer Obed McCoy his T20I debut – the 21-year-old is known for his death-bowling variations in the shortest format of the game.

If experienced campaigners like Kieron Pollard and Darren Bravo put up strong performances on Sunday, the Windies can be confident of pulling one back against India.

Key players

**Rohit Sharma:**The Indian captain is in exemplary form at the moment. If he manages to play out the first six overs, he will hit his stride and be very difficult for the Windies to contain. Furthermore, his captaincy at the international level has been impressive to say the least.

**Carlos Brathwaite:**For the Windies to salvage pride in the final game, it is important for Brathwaite to lead from the front. His all-round ability makes him a valuable asset in the shortest format of the game and if he manages to bring his best to the table, the right-hander can turn his team's fortune on Sunday.

Conditions

It will be partly cloudy at the time of toss, and the temperature will be in the region of 28°C. The only T20I played in Chennai was back in 2012, when New Zealand clinched a one-run victory in a thriller. The dry surface will not be easy to bat on, and might bring the slower bowlers into the game.

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddarth Kaul

**Windies:**Carlos Brathwaite(c), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Sherfane Rutherford, Oshane Thomas, Khary Pierre, Obed McCoy, Rovman Powell, Nicholas Pooran, Shai Hope