Though the series is already decided, there will still be much to play for when India and the West Indies lock horns in the third and final T20I at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
Earlier, the hosts clinched the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead when they beat the tourists by 71 runs in the second T20 at Lucknow.
As Windies get ready to bring down the curtains on their lengthy tour of India, we take a look at the talking points ahead of the Chennai showdown.
INDIA LOOK TO TEST BENCH STRENGTH
Before the start of the series, stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma talked about using the matches to test India’s bench strength ahead of the 2019 ICC World Cup in England.
In the two matches so far, Krunal Pandya has made his international debut and performed admirably while the likes of Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik have been given extended run outs. For the final clash, India have opted to hand Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Umesh Yadav a rest with Siddarth Kaul being called up as a replacement.
The medium pacer could very well feature on Sunday along with Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar and Shahbaz Nadeem who are all yet to play a single game in the series so far. Hence, expect wholesale changes to the Indian squad which takes the field at Chennai.
Shreyas Iyer is in line to make an appearance for India as well.
WINDIES LOOK TO END ON A HIGH
There has not been much to smile about for the visitors in what has been a tour to forget so far. They were swept aside 2-0 in the two-match Test series before being handed a 1-3 defeat in the five-match ODI series.
While there have been a few positives in the form of Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope and Oshane Thomas, the visitors have failed to really click as a team in the tour. Their performances in the two T20s have been majorly disappointing given they are the reigning world champions in the format.
Veteran T20 stalwarts Kieron Pollard and skipper Carlos Brathwaite have not covered themselves in glory in the two games so far and they will need to give a lot more in terms of contributions on Sunday to help the youngsters in the squad.
A win at Chennai will not suddenly turn their tour into a success but it could a big very well be big confidence booster to what is primarily a young inexperienced squad.
A chance for Windies to salvage some pride.
SHIKHAR DHAWAN DUE A BIG ONE AFTER QUITE SERIES
While Rohit Sharma has been going great guns at the top for India in the series, his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan has been uncharacteristically subdued. The left-hander was off colour in the ODI series as well where he failed to register a single half-century in the five matches.
The same patchy form has followed the limited-overs stalwart in the T20 series as well with a half-century continuing to elude him. The 32-year-old has managed to garner starts in almost each of his innings but has failed to convert them into something big.
He was looking good for a fifty in Lucknow but ultimately threw his wicket away on 43. With the Chennai game being India’s final fixture before the departure to Australia, Dhawan will want to get a big score under his name to build up his confidence. He is not one who is tied down for too long and a big innings could be around the corner come Sunday.
Dhawan has not had the best of times by his standards.
