India will be playing the last match of the 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan today at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. India has already won the series by defeating Afghanistan by 6 wickets in both matches on the back of stellar performances from Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh. This is the last T20I series of India before the marquee event of the T20I World Cup which is scheduled to be held in June 2024.
Rohit Sharma is yet to score a run in the series as he fell for golden ducks in both matches. But, Rohit Sharma’s captaincy has been impressive in both matches and in the third match he is poised to break the record of the legendary captain MS Dhoni in T20Is. If India Wins the third match of the series under Rohit Sharma’s Captaincy then Rohit Sharma will become the most successful T20I captain for India surpassing Dhoni’s tally of 41 wins.
Rohit Sharma has the joint most T20I wins for India as a captain and the list currently looks like this:
MS Dhoni: Captained in 72 Matches, Won 41, Lost 28, Win% 56.94
Rohit Sharma: Captained in 53 Matches, Won 41, Lost 12, Win% 77.35
Virat Kohli: Captained in 50 Matches, Won 30, Lost 16, Win% 60.00
Pitch Report: Bengaluru’s wicket is known for a lot of runs. With short boundaries, bowlers will have to work hard to get their wickets. But, we saw a tacky surface in the last T20I match here in December between India and Australia.
With the series wrapped up already, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav and Avesh Khan could get an opportunity as Kuldeep and Avesh were seen bowling extensively in the nets on the eve of the fixture.
India, Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma/Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Mukesh Kumar/Avesh Khan
Afghanistan’s impressive leggie Qais Ahmad could be brought into the playing XI if they look at all the success of Chahal in the IPL over the years. But there’s a massive risk as India has 3 big-hitting left-handers in their top 6.
Afghanistan, Probable XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran (c), Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Fantasy XI for Grand League in Dream 11: WK– Sanju Samson (if he plays) or else R Gurbaz; BAT– Rohit Sharma, I Zadran, Virat Kohli; All-Rounders– Axar Patel, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Shivam Dube; BOWL– Arshdeep Singh, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, F Farooqi
Captain: Shivam Dube, Gulbadin Naib, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
Vice Captain: Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, Karim Janat