Sort out the batting lineup should be Virat Kohli's biggest priority as India play England in the 3rd T20 on Wednesday. With the series tied 1-1, this is a win-this-match-and-you-win-the-series contest, making it all the more exciting.
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After a couple of poor batting shows from India, the lineup will need to click in Bengaluru, considering the M Chinnaswamy pitch is always conducive to batting, with the chasing team, at most times, able to even haul down targets of over 200.
Try as Virat Kohli might to justify his promotion to the opening slot, in order to accommodate Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey, who is batting too low in the order to be effective, it hasn't worked.
Opening the innings, Kohli has felt the need to go on the attack too early, and with it lose his wicket without making enough of an impact.
With KL Rahul finding some form, this could be an opportunity for Kohli to drop back down to No.3 and maybe bring in Rishabh Pant into the side. Pant can whack the ball with ease and with the dimensions in Bengaluru made for the six-hitters, it could prove to be a masterstroke.
However, since this 3rd T20 is a decider, Kohli and Anil Kumble are unlikely to give a youngster his international debut. Then, the solution could be to push Pandey up the order and let Kohli, who could very well score big in this third T20, irrespective of where he bats, considering he will be playing at his second home, start from No.3, where he has scored all of his important runs in T20 internationals for India.
Apart from that batting conundrum, India do not have too many other team decisions to make.
Yuzvendra Chahal knows the Bengaluru pitch well, since he plays for RCB in the IPL, so the leg-spinner should keep his place and Amit Mishra, that unpardonable no-ball wicket notwithstanding, showed enough to be given another match.
Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah were outstanding with the ball in the 2nd T20, so, it looks like Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have to sit out the entire series.
England could make one change to their playing XI. Liam Dawson did not do too much after coming in for Liam Plunkett in the 2nd T20 and considering how small the Chinnaswamy is, the fast bowler could make a return to the lineup.
Confirmed playing XI:
India: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli (C), Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra.
England: Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid.
