India captain Virat Kohli was not a part of the playing eleven in the third and final T20I of the series against South Africa. In Kohli's absence, Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy as South Africa won the toss and elected to field first in what looked like a good batting surface with a fair bit of grass cover. Speaking of Kohli's absence in the side, Rohit said that the Indian skipper had a stiff back and he needed some rest. Dinesh Karthik was included in the side in place of Kohli with Yuzvendra Chahal and Jaydev Unadkat also missing out on a spot. Axar Patel and Jasprit Bumrah was included in the final XI in place of Chahal and Unadkat. South Africa made a couple of changes as well to their side with Christiaan Jonker making his debut and Aaron Phangiso coming back into the side.
No KOHLI Evens the playing field for the decider #SAvsIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 24, 2018
David Miller will open the batting for the hosts that may have taken many by surprise. "David Miller would be opening the batting and is a class act and we'll bank on him to get us off to a good start. All we need to do is stick to the basics and the rest will take care of itself," said Duminy at the toss.
Earlier, Kohli limped off the field before India completed another dominant performance over South Africa in the first Twenty20 international at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday. Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were mainly responsible for India's 28-run win, just two days after the tourists completed a 5-1 thrashing of the hosts in a one-day international series. India captain Kohli left the field 13 overs into South Africa's innings after suffering a left leg strain while batting.
- Virat Kohli was ruled out of the third and final T20I vs South Africa
- South Africa won the toss and elected to field vs India
- Rohit Sharma took over as the captain in absence of Kohli
