HARARE: India captain KL Rahul won the toss and chose to bat in the third one-day international against Zimbabwe in Harare on Monday.
The tourists began the three-match series last Thursday with a 10-wicket victory and won by five wickets two days later to build an unassailable 2-0 lead.
“We want to challenge ourselves,” said Rahul. “There will be some movement early on. I have not spent time batting and it will be good to gain some confidence before the Asia Cup.”
Rahul did not get an opportunity to bat in the first match and made only one run in the second before being trapped leg before wicket.
India changed two of the side that won on Saturday with Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan replacing Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj.
Zimbabwe also made two changes as they sought to avoid a whitewash with Tony Munyonga and Richard Ngarava promoted and Wessly Madhevere and Tanaka Chivanga dropping out.
Both teams are in the middle of busy schedules, with India facing arch rivals Pakistan in the Asia Cup on Sunday, the same day Zimbabwe begin an ODI tour of Australia.
Teams
Zimbabwe: Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Innocent Kaia, Regis Chakabva (capt, wkt), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Tony Munyonga, Ryan Burl, Luke Jongwe, Brad Evans, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi
India: Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul (capt), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson (wkt), Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan
Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (RSA), Langton Rusere (ZIM)
TV umpire: Forster Mutizwa (ZIM)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)–AFP
