Bhuvneshwar And Sooryavanshi OUT, Ishan Kishan Returns! India's Likely Playing XI For 3rd T20I Against New Zealand

India will face New Zealand in the third T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday (October 27) at Hnry Stadium in Wellington and, like in the first two matches, will aim to secure a win.

A victory over the hosts in the third T20I on Tuesday will give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the away series. India defeated the Black Caps by four wickets in the first two matches. For the third match in the capital city of New Zealand, the Indian team management could make a couple of changes to the playing XI.

Fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has failed to impress with his bowling in the two matches played so far and could be left out of the playing XI for the third match.

Bhuvneshwar, who has 91 wickets to his name in 90 T20Is played so far, conceded 49 runs in the series opener on Thursday and returned with figures of 1 for 50 in four overs on Saturday. In his absence, Mayank Yadav could be included in the side.

Mayank, who made way for Prince Yadav in the second T20I, played the first fixture and picked up one wicket for 40 runs in four overs.

In addition to Bhuvneshwar, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is also expected to be dropped to the bench.

Sooryavanshi was included in India’s playing XI for the second T20I as an injury replacement for Ishan Kishan, but he could only manage to score 4 runs off 8 balls as the No. 3 batter.

Ishan, who is the highest run-scorer for India in T20Is this year, is likely to return for the third match, and Vaibhav is certain to make way for him in the side.

In the two matches played so far, the likes of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer, Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy have proved their worth with the bat at least once, and they are certain to retain their places in the XI. Spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel however could be rested in favour of either Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakaravarthy, but the chances of that are very slim.

India’s likely playing XI for 3rd T20I against New Zealand: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav