Hobart, Nov 2 (IANS) Jitesh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, and Washington Sundar have been included in India’s playing eleven, as skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third T20I against Australia at Bellerive Oval on Sunday.

India are seeking a series-levelling win in what is also their first-ever T20I game in Hobart, while Australia is looking to go 2-0 up in the five-match series. After winning the toss, Suryakumar said Jitesh, Arshdeep, and Washington come in place of Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, and Kuldeep Yadav in the playing eleven.

“The ball will come on nicely to the bat in the 2nd innings. Happy to take it one game at a time,” he said.

Australia captain Mitchell Marsh stated that seamer Sean Abbott will replace Josh Hazlewood in the playing eleven. Hazlewood has been rested from the remainder of the series to mainly concentrate on Ashes preparations. Abbott, meanwhile, took figures of 3-25 from four overs in his most recent T20I against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.

It also means that Glenn Maxwell will have to wait to return to the Australian team after recovering from a wrist injury. “It’s a belter of a wicket. Want to get off to a good start and post a big total,” he said.

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch described the pitch as “beautiful batting conditions”. With hot and windy weather and small boundaries on offer, Finch has predicted a high-scoring contest at the venue.

Playing XIs

India: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah

Australia: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Short, Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, and Matthew Kuhnemann

–IANS

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