India's bench strength and Naveen-ul-Haq's match-fitness in focus for final T20I

The series over and done with in two near-identical comprehensive wins for India, the question going into the final T20I is what new do the teams have to offer. One way to change things up would be for India to lose the toss, which they have done only once in their last 12 matches. Another would be for them to take on the challenge of batting first even if they win the toss.

Toss aside, this third T20I could be a good time for India to test what order Washington Sundar's game is in. Or to give Yash Thakur his third T20I. Or to give Vaibhav Sooryavanshi his first international at home, which could make him the youngest from a Full-Member nation to play international cricket in India. More importantly it is a good chance for the team management to play four specialist bowlers and see how the batters react to the lack of a six-hitting option at No. 8. They did try that in all the games in Zimbabwe, but they had a different coach at the helm as the regular head coach Gautam Gambhir was on leave.

Afghanistan will still rely on the core that represented them in the World Cup, but should consider playing one spinner fewer and promoting Azamtullah Omarzai, who has looked like their best batter. Too often their best players come into the game when the damage has been done be it Omarzai batting at No. 6 or Rashid Khan not bowling in the powerplay. This is a great opportunity for Afghanistan to see what happens when their best players are pushed out of their comfort zones.

Afghanistan LLWWL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
India WWWWW

In the spotlight: Ibrahim Zadran and Axar Patel

It was always going to be a tough assignment for a new captain to lead against India in India even though technically they are the hosts. Ibrahim Zadran took on the first strike in the second T20I after Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a duck in the first match, but he ended up playing out a maiden, which contributed to another duck for Gurbaz. He has shown glimpses of what makes him the second-best opener in the country, but will desperately want a definitive innings before the series ends.

At his IPL home ground, Axar Patel has quietly had a good series. He has bowled inside the powerplay in both the matches and has been unlucky to not get more than the two wickets that he has got. Two catches have been dropped off his bowling plus he has created more opportunities. Out of the scheme for Tests, it is important that he keeps doing well with the white ball especially as India build towards the ODI World Cup next year.

Afghanistan have three world-class spinners, but they feel light on pace especially once they decide to not bowl Farooqi with the new ball. Even if Naveen is fit and available, they should think of playing the extra fast bowler in Abdollah Ahmadzai in place of either Mujeeb ur Rahman or Noor Ahmad.

Afghanistan (probable): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran (capt), 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Gulbadin Naib, 5 Darwish Rasooli, 6 Azmatullah Omarzai, 7 Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman/ 10 Naveen-ul-Haq, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi/ Abdollah Omarzai

Shreyas Iyer indicated that India could make changes in the final game for players "to get used to the wicket and get some practice". Ideally they should try the extra bowler and bat first not because they have struggled with the ball but to see how batters respond to the alternative combination of less batting depth.

India 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt.), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Axar Patel, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Yash Thakur, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

Pitch and conditions: More of the same

The pitch should continue to be good for batting, and the small dimensions should aid the batters. There is some western disturbance taking shape around north-western India, but the risk of rain in Delhi is strictly moderate.