India made a strong comeback after a disheartening ODI series and bagged the T20I series with a match in hand. The visitors have now won three back-to-back matches and look set to continue the run against a depleted Australian squad. Moreover, this is a great chance for the Indian cricket team to record their second whitewash in Australia.
For Australia, injury is the biggest concern. Their batting looked okay but the back-up bowlers failed to contain the Indian batsmen last time out. Australia need to identify their best possible eleven from the limited resources they have. Aaron Finch might lead the team in case he is match fit. That would result in a possible rest for Steve Smith before the Test series starting on December 17. The stand-in captain Matthew Wade will be expected to continue his good show and maintain his spot at the top of the batting order.
On the other hand, Glenn Maxwell, who got a good start in the last T20I may play more freely in the last game and launch against the Indian bowlers. Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye, and Daniel Sams are definitely not at par with their first-choice pacers. Hence, Adam Zampa and Mitchell Swepson will have a greater responsibility.
The visitors are definitely in a comfortable position and able to play most of the preferred players. There is a significant difference between their white ball and red ball squads and they can play their first eleven. However, this being a dead rubber there could be a temptation for experiments like bringing Mayank Agarwal to open and to send Sanju Samson behind the wickets in place of KL Rahul. Rahul is slowly becoming one of the top players in the T20 format and maintains exceptional consistency. With such an in-form batter at the top, the middle order can play more freely.
Hardik Pandya has enjoyed a great comeback tour so far. He needs to continue with the momentum if Virat Kohli wants a whitewash tomorrow. Indian bowling should also continue their run as except Navdeep Saini none of their limited over bowlers are part of the Test squad. Opting for Saini will give him a match practice alongside T Natarajan who currently maintains a T20 bowling average of 10 and an economy rate of 6.25.
Likely XIs
Australia
Aaron Finch (C), Matthew Wade, Steve Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Andrew Tye, Mitchell Swepson, Adam Zampa
India
KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli (C), Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal