Afghanistan chose to bat first in Chennai for the third and final ODI against India, a match that arrived after the series had already been decided 2-0. The toss set up a fresh look for both sides, with Afghanistan making four changes and India making three.
India’s reshuffle brought back Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey and Prasidh Krishna, while Harshit Rana remained on the sidelines despite returning to the squad after knee surgery. The changes also pushed India toward a more allrounder-heavy XI, with Reddy at No. 6 and Dubey at No. 8.
Shubman Gill stayed at No. 3, while Ishan Kishan moved into KL Rahul’s role at No. 5. Arshdeep Singh and Kuldeep Yadav were the bowlers to make way as India balanced their batting depth and bowling options for the dead rubber.
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said the pitch looked dry and hard and hoped his side could post a strong total. Gill said he would have chosen to bat too, underlining how both captains read the surface in similar terms.
India XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav.
Afghanistan XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Ziaur Rahman, Fareed Ahmad.
Afghanistan’s four changes included the additions of Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Fareed Ahmad and Ziaur Rahman. Sediqullah Atal, Nangeyalia Kharote, Mohammad Saleem and Bilal Sami were left out as they went with two allrounders and two seam bowlers in the XI.
