IND vs WI, 3rd T20: Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant rested; India look to test bench strength

Kolkata: With the series in their bag, India would look to test bench strength in the inconsequential third and final T20I against West Indies here on Sunday.

The Rohit Sharma-led India can finally include Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad after both Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant left for a 10-day break.

India defeated West Indies by eight runs in the nail-biting second game, thanks to Bhuvneshwar Kumar's brilliant penultimate over at the Eden Gardens on February 18.

With the T20 World Cup 2022 scheduled in less than eight months in Australia, skipper Rohit and coach Rahul Dravid would look to try out new combinations.

On the other hand, West Indies, who have lost five matches (3 ODIs and 2 T20Is) on trot on this tour, will be eager to win the last one.

West Indies looked like they had narrowed the gap between the two teams on Friday night but they still need to smoothen some edges.

In the opening game, they lost their footing after a good powerplay and could post only 157. In the second, they were chasing in dewy conditions but left too much for the end by posting just 41 runs in the powerplay and 73 in the first ten.

Barring the allowance of approximately a thousand fans in the corporate boxes and the upper tier of Dr BC Roy Club House, the first two T20Is were primarily played behind closed doors. It is worth mentioning that the situation will change to some extent in the third T20I as the BCCI has allowed CAB to accommodate 20,000 spectators inside the stadium.

Having said that, complimentary tickets will only be provided to CAB life members (life and annual) and associated units. As is the case generally, priced tickets won't be made available for general public who wish to watch the third T20I.

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Ravi Bishnoi, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Hooda, Kuldeep Yadav.

West Indies squad: Kieron Pollard (c), Nicholas Pooran (vc), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr. (UNI)