India and Australia face off each other in the third T20I in Guwahati on November 28, Tuesday. The two teams have very different motives heading into this game. While for Australia this is a must-win match to keep them alive in the series, a win for the young Indian team will give them a T20I series win. 

The Men in Blue are fresh after scoring their highest T20I score against Australia in the previous match in Thiruvananthapuram. It was a clinical performance from the Indian team with their top-rder firing and the bowlers doing the job with the ball. 

Australia despite the return of Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa in the previous match came second best as they lost the match by 44 runs, In all likeliness, playing conditions and the series scenario might force Australia to make a few more changes to their XI. 

The senior players from both teams have been rested from this series with the benchstrength of both teams tested. For Australia, David Waner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Mitchell Marsh all have been rested. Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Adam Zampa, Jos Inglis, Marcus Stoinis and Travis Head are part of the T20I squad that played the World Cup for the Aussies.

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The BCCI selectors named a young squad with all their players rested as well. Suryakumar Yadav was given the responsibility of captaincy as Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal were rested. Ruturaj Gaikwad is the vice-captain for the first three matches. Shreyas Iyer returns as the vice-captain for the last two games. The batting lineup is very young with SKY having played the most matches among all the players. 

India vs Australia 3rd T20I Match Preview, 2023

India 

The Men in Blue scored 235/4 against Australia in the previous match. This was their best batting effort in T20Is against Australia. With the T20 World Cup in sight, the players are making the most of the opportunity presented to them. SKY as a leader made all the right calls and almost all of them came off. 

Players like Washington Sundar, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Dube and Avesk Khan are yet to get a game in the series and it will be interesting to see whether any of them get a chance in the last game. Shreyas Iyer will return back to the T20I side for the last two games as the vice-captain. 

India Squad

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar

Australia 

While the Men in Yellow have dominated India in Tests and ODIs, it is the opposite way in T20Is. In 28 T20Is so far India have won 17 matches and Australia just 10. The wins include the last two and in the previous series, they won 2-1 as well in 2022. 

The return of Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa did not make much of a difference in the second T20I. The explosive start from the Indian batters meant that all the bowlers were under the pump. While Maxwell scored just 12 with the bat, Zampa bowled a wicketless spell for 33 runs. 

Matthew Hayden on commentary spoke about Australia’s lack an intent in T20Is. He said that given the history of Australia in ICC tournaments, the suad should have won a couple more T20 World Cups at least. This is what the series presents the players which is an opportunity to stake a claim for selection in next year’s T20 World Cup. Given the availability of players, it will be interesting to see how they rotate their players, especially their bowlers. A loss in the next match would mean Australia will lose the T20I series after their World Cup final win over India. 

 Australia Squad

Matthew Wade (C), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

Also Read: India Create History After Winning Second T20I vs Australia; Become Team With Joint-Most T20I Wins