India made several changes for the third T20 International against Australia at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Arshdeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma, and Washington Sundar returned to the playing XI, replacing Harshit Rana, Sanju Samson, and Kuldeep Yadav, respectively.
Arshdeep, who had been on the sidelines for the first two matches, was given a chance to play to bring variety and experience to the pace attack. There had been calls for India to include their leading T20I wicket-taker to provide left-arm balance to the bowling line-up.
Jitesh Sharma took over wicketkeeping duties from Sanju Samson, who was dropped due to a lackluster performance in the previous match. Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep Yadav to bolster the lower-middle order.
During the toss, Suryakumar mentioned that the pitch seemed favorable for batting but could offer some assistance to fast bowlers early on. Australia made one change to their lineup, with Sean Abbott replacing Josh Hazlewood. The hosts were leading the five-match series 1-0, with the series opener in Canberra being abandoned due to rain.
Ahead of the match, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel assessed the pitch, while players like Tilak Varma and Arshdeep Singh inspected the playing surface. Additionally, Gautam Gambhir was seen providing guidance to Harshit Rana after the young bowler’s debut performance.
The Indian playing XI included Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, and Arshdeep Singh. Australia’s playing XI featured Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Xavier Bartlett, Sean Abbott, Nathan Ellis, and Matthew Kuhnemann.