India vs New Zealand 2017: India's probable XI for 3rd T20I

Steamrolled by the Colin Munro jamboree in the first innings, and managing a batting performance as messy as an engineering student’s hostel room, the Indian team were pulled out of the Nehraji farewell hangover, and tossed into the realities of the game’s most unpredictable format.

The final game, at Thiruvananthapuram, stands between them and another trophy in Virat Kohli’s cabinet. After the drubbing at Rajkot, it won’t be easy, with the threat of rain completing a perfect love triangle.

Here is a probable list of 11 men who could be seen on the team sheet, if rain gods relent:

Shikhar Dhawan isn’t exactly the embodiment of consistency in T20Is, but his recent run of form in ODIs did enough to compel Kohli to shift himself down the order and let the Dhawan-Rohit partnership continue in the game’s shortest format too.

In the first T20I, they showed why they’re such a hit in ODIs, compiling the highest stand for any wicket for India: while both took some time to settle, Dhawan managed to keep the scoreboard ticking, even while his opening partner slowly built on his start.

Rohit Sharma can change gears effortlessly: while he played second fiddle to Dhawan in the initial part of India’s innings in the first game, he really let loose in the second half, showing how versatile his strokeplay can be when the need arises. He was undone by Trent Boult early in the second game, and might have to re-jig his approach against left-arm pacers, a species of bowlers that tend to trouble him early in the innings.

Virat Kohli is trusting the Dhawan-Rohit pair at the top, which has a flipside of its own, as the Indian captain himself gets fewer deliveries to face. As was witnessed in the last game, he had run out of partners by the time the innings reached the halfway mark, even though he did not do too much wrong in the whirlwind knock he played himself. A fragile middle order, coupled with Dhoni’s worrisome form in T20s, puts added pressure on him. But then again, he is the tsar of limited-overs cricket.

A glittering prospect for India in the future, courtesy his domestic cricket and IPL exploits, Shreyas Iyer was drafted into the team with the No. 4 spot turning into a thorny IIT entrance paper with multiple options, but no solution.

Iyer is ideally suited to play at the top of the order, but owing to the choc-a-bloc opening logjam, he can’t climb above Kohli in the batting order. He got to a start in the second T20I, but couldn’t capitalise, putting more strain on the batsmen succeeding him even as the run-rate went off the charts.

People baying for MS Dhoni’s blood isn’t something new: yet, at 36, the time has now come for the former Indian captain to carefully assess his role in the side and subsequently take a call on his T20 future. Dhoni seems to be wasting away at No. 6, since he can’t play the aggressor’s role from the word go in the 20-over format. A move up the order can be the only saving grace for the veteran.

A wildcard entry to solve India's middle-order woes, Dinesh Karthik has pipped the likes of Manish Pandey and KL Rahul in the ODI set-up, but did not get to play in the one-off T20Is against Sri Lanka and Australia. He has played 10 T20Is over eleven years, but the veteran batsman is known to mould himself in any position, and can be employed to beef-up India's frangible batting order.

Built like a marathon runner but skilled like a butcher, Hardik Pandya has been a revelation in ODIs, but seems to be dealing with a mental block in T20s, surprisingly, a format in which he rose to prominence. After 23 T20Is, Pandya’s batting average is 9.69 and strike-rate in the early 120s, figures that don’t come close to proving the value he can provide to the team. He should be given an out-and-out finisher's role so that he knows his approach and doesn’t have a cloudy brain when he bats next.

“I don’t want to be Ravindra Jadeja’s replacement”. Three years after his international debut, Axar Patel has done enough with the ball to carve a name of his own, but still needs to smoothen rough edges if he wants a long haul. His batting can be best described as a goldfish masquerading as a whale, but his sly variations during the middle overs give a handy slant to the bowling line-up. If he can beef up his skills with the willow, the Indian jersey will be found hanging more often in his cupboard.

Yuzvendra Chahal managed to keep his economy under 10 despite the Munro mayhem, but was a far cry from the wicket-taking machine that he turns into whenever he turns out for the RCB. With Kuldeep Yadav snapping at his heels from the benches, Chahal will have to up his game a few notches in the middle overs, and bring his A-game to the fore in order to keep the competition at bay.

The newest iOs upgrade might not be getting rave reviews, but the new and improved Bhuvneshwar Kumar has ticked all boxes since his comeback to the side. The knuckleball has been a revelation, and the 27-year-old has used it to devastating effect, possessing amazing control over his swing and pace in the powerplays and stifling batsmen with lack of space, and sometimes pace.

Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers in the previous encounter, managing an impressive economy of under six while the rest of the bowlers were hurling six-hitting offerings to Munro. Deceptive yorkers and nagging cutters are two of his biggest strengths, which he can employ at will to put the brakes on the opposition's plans at the death.