India vs Afghanistan, 3rd T20I, 2024 - Top player battles to watch out for

India (IND) will look to clean-sweep Afghanistan (AFG) in the first-ever bilateral T20I series between the two sides. This series began on January 11 and has seen India convincingly defeat Afghanistan in the first two T20Is in Mohali and Indore.

The third and final T20I will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on January 17, Wednesday. This will be a golden chance for Afghanistan as well, to win a match and avoid a 3-0 defeat to India. The Bengaluru pitch is a batting paradise with short boundaries. Both teams will aim to win the toss and bowl first, as knowing the target helps in prepping for the game plan.

Meanwhile, the victory for either team will depend on how their players perform on the given day, and with this in mind, we present to you the top 3 player battles to watch out for in the third T20I between India and Afghanistan. 

Discussing more, here are three player battles to watch out for in the India vs Afghanistan match:

3. Ravi Bishnoi v Rahmanullah Gurbaz 

Ravi Bishnoi has been expensive for India in the two matches he has played in this series. His economy in the series has been 10.57 and he has two wickets to show for it. However, a reason for his high economy has been that Bishnoi has often bowled to openers in the powerplay overs and got hammered.

His rivalry will be with Rahmanullah Gurbaz who has not done well so far. He had scored the fastest T20I century by an Afghan batter against UAE, but in this series, he has 37 runs to show in two matches. This will be an interesting battle to watch out for in the final match, especially with Bishnoi bowling on a batting-friendly track with small boundaries.

2. Naveen Ul Haq v Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli made an impressive return to T20Is after 14 months as he scored 29 runs in 16 balls with 5 fours to his name in the second T20I in Indore. He was looking extremely dangerous in the chase of 173 runs and along with Jaiswal, threatened to end the chase early. But it was not to be, as he was caught at mid-on after miscuing a shot off Naveen ul Haq. But Bengaluru is his home ground in IPL and it will be expected of him to do well here.

Naveen ul Haq and Virat Kohli might have called off their tiff, but the on-field rivalry will remain especially, as they clash on the same ground in Bengaluru where it all began in the IPL. Naveen has been expensive in both T20Is, with an economy of 11.69. In 6.3 overs, he has only one wicket and has given away 76 runs in all. 

1. Fazalhaq Farooqi v Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma’s return to T20Is after a 14-month break has been shocking. He was run out for a duck in the first T20I in Mohali. And then to make things worse, got bowled trying for a wild shot in the second T20I in the first over itself, this time for a golden duck.

While he has guided India to win in both matches, his performance with the bat has been questioned. Fazalhaq Farooqi will have his tail up when he runs into a bowl to Rohit Sharma in Bengaluru, despite the batting-friendly wicket. He will hope to get Rohit’s wicket once in the third T20I to complete a poor series for India's captain.