India have enjoyed victories of two very different kinds thus far in their five-match T20I series against England. What has been common in both matches, though, was the England batters' difficulty to play Indian spin bowling.

England's batters did a better job in the second T20I but it was really the efforts of their bowlers that brought them on the brink of victory in Chennai. India would hence be tempted to continue with the four-pronged spin attack they used at the Chepauk, especially considering Rajkot, which is traditionally known to offer a far more spin-friendly track than Chennai. Conversely, though, it also means that the wait for Mohammed Shami's comeback to international cricket is set to continue for one more.

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak made it clear that the decision to keep Shami out in the first two matches was not because of any issues with the 34-year-old's fitness. With Arshdeep Singh's short-pitched deliveries proving to be too much for Phil Salt to handle, it wouldn't really make sense to drop him halfway through the series. Moreover, Arshdeep has proven himself to be undroppable regardless of the situation as he sits within touching distance of becoming the first Indian to take 100 wickets in T20Is.

Varun Chakravarthy has continued to haunt the England middle order and he has been ably supported by Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. Washington Sundar was also effective in the second T20I, striking with his very first ball of the match.

Suryakumar Yadav's form under spotlight

While it is far from being an alarming situation, the fact remains that captain Suryakumar Yadav has been uncharacteristically quiet in this series. This is, in fact, a continuation of the rather inconsistent form that the 34-year-old has been in since the 2024 T20 World Cup. The dynamic batter even demoted himself from the number three to the number four position during the South Africa series to accommodate Tilak Varma and maintain the team's balance.

However, his lack of runs have hardly affected India as other batters have chipped in at some point or the other. Notable among them is Tilak Varma, who almost single-handedly pulled India to victory in the second T20I with an innings that many have deemed as the moment when the 22-year-old came of age. It is hence unlikely that India will make any changes to the batting lineup.

India predicted XI for third T20I vs England: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi/Mohammed Shami/Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy

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