Chennai, June 20 (IANS) India have included Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey and Nitish Kumar Reddy in their playing eleven as Afghanistan won the toss and elected to bat first in the third and final ODI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

India have already taken a 2-0 lead in the three-game series after a massive 170-run win in Lucknow. Another win in Chennai will hand them a 3-0 series sweep. Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said they have four changes, with Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi and Fareed Ahmad Malik coming in.

“We want to bat first today. It’s always hot in India in this month. Wicket also looks good. It’s dry and hard. Hopefully we have a good start in the batting. In last two games we missed some areas and didn’t play the way we have played in the past. Hopefully we recover today and have good partnerships and bowl in the right areas,” he said.

For India, with Prasidh, Harsh and Nitish returning, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul sit out of the match. . Nitish had missed the clash in Lucknow due to soreness in left thigh and now returns in Chennai, with Ishan Kishan set to take up keeping duties.

“Looks like a very good wicket. Would’ve batted first as well. Was pretty hot in the last match and it’s going to be no different here. It’s about being consistent in the areas we’re looking at. Chasing is one thing we haven’t ticked. That’s what we’ll be looking at today,” said India skipper Shubman Gill.

In their pitch report, Michael Clarke and Deep Dasgupta said a red-soil pitch is on offer and there should be good bounce for both pacers and spinners, while adding that balls with change of pace can be more beneficial.

Playing XIs:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, and Prince Yadav

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

–IANS

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