3rd T20I: Nitish, Prince return for India as West Indies elect to bowl first, Sampson, Paul included

Indore: India have brought back seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy and pacer Prince Yadav as West Indies captain Shai Hope won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third T20I at the Holkar Stadium here on Sunday.

West Indies are coming off acing a thrilling record-breaking run chase in the second match in Ranchi and levelling the five-game series 1-1. A win for either of the two teams will get them a 2-1 lead.

With the pitch in Indore traditionally known as a batter's paradise featuring short boundaries and flat nature, both teams are bracing for another high-scoring encounter. India skipper Shreyas Iyer said Nitish and Prince have replaced Shivam Dube and Kuldeep Yadav in their playing eleven.

“The dew factor played a massive role in the previous game, on a given day it happens you need to have that mindset to put it behind. It's important that we adapt and assess quickly to get to a commendable total. Given the dimensions we made those changes and we also needed someone who can hit the yorkers,” he said.

West Indies captain Shai Hope said Romario Shepherd has a niggle and is rested from Sunday’s game, while Quentin Sampson and Keemo Paul have been drafted into the playing eleven.

“I think we all know what I am going to do, so we are going to bowl first again. It's going to be challenging when you are playing all three formats. Just about learning as quickly as possible in these conditions. We always know that catches determine a lot of games,” he said.

Playing XIs:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Prince Yadav

West Indies: Shai Hope (captain & wk), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Quentin Sampson, Keemo Paul, Roston Chase, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph, and Gudakesh Motie

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