Ind vs Afg: Afghanistan win the toss and elect to bat first

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Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss, and Afghanistan elected to bat first in the third ODI against India in Chennai. Team India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after winning the first two ODIs.

After winning the toss, Shahidi decided to bat first after having opted to bowl in the second ODI. The Afghanistan captain mentioned that the extreme heat was one of the reasons why the team decided to bat first.

“We want to bat first today. It’s always hot in India in this month. Wicket also looks good. It’s dry and hard. Hopefully we have a good start in the batting. In last two games we missed some areas and didn’t play the way we have played in the past. Hopefully we recover today and have good partnerships and bowl in the right areas. Four changes. Nabi is back, Azmat is playing. (Reads from his palm) Zia ur Rahman and Fareed Malik are in.” Shahidi said.

Indian captain Shubman Gill admitted that his team would have batted first too. The 26-year-old confirmed changes to the team with Prasidh Krishna and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy introduced back in the team.

“Looks like a very good wicket. Would’ve batted first as well. Was pretty hot in the last match and it’s going to be no different here. It’s about being consistent in the areas we’re looking at. We’ll be chasing in this match, and chasing big scores consistently and comfortably is one area where we haven’t quite ticked the box yet. That’s what we’ll be looking at today. Three changes. Prasidh, Harsh and Nitish Reddy are back.” Indian captain Gill said.

Both teams made a few changes to their playing XI to try different combinations before the ODI World Cup next year.

Confirmed Playing XI for both teams:

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav

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