India captain Shubman Gill did not explain the reason behind KL Rahul’s absence while speaking at the toss (Image credit: BCCI)

NEW DELHI: India made three changes to their playing XI for the third and final ODI against Afghanistan at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday, with KL Rahul missing out as Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi won the toss and elected to bat first.India have already sealed the three-match series with a 2-0 lead and will be aiming for a clean sweep after their dominant 170-run victory in Lucknow.

Why is KL Rahul not playing vs Afghanistan?

India brought back Prasidh Krishna, Harsh Dubey and Nitish Kumar Reddy for the Chennai ODI. As a result, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul were left out of the playing XI. Nitish returns after missing the second ODI due to soreness in his left thigh, while Ishan Kishan takes over wicketkeeping duties.Interestingly, India captain Shubman Gill did not explain the reason behind Rahul’s absence while speaking at the toss.After losing the toss, Gill admitted that India would have preferred to bat first on the Chennai surface.“Looks like a very good wicket. Would’ve batted first as well. Was pretty hot in the last match and it’s going to be no different here. It’s about being consistent in the areas we’re looking at. We’ll be chasing in this match, and chasing big scores consistently and comfortably is one area where we haven’t quite ticked the box yet. That’s what we’ll be looking at today. Three changes. Prasidh, Harsh and Nitish Reddy are back,” Gill said.Afghanistan skipper Shahidi said the conditions and pitch influenced his decision to bat first.“We want to bat first today. It’s always hot in India in this month. Wicket also looks good. It’s dry and hard. Hopefully we have a good start in the batting. In last two games we missed some areas and didn’t play the way we have played in the past. Hopefully we recover today and have good partnerships and bowl in the right areas. Four changes. Nabi is back, Azmat is playing. (Reads from his palm) Zia ur Rahman and Fareed Malik are in,” Shahidi said.Afghanistan made four changes to their side, bringing in Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi and Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, AM Ghazanfar, Zia Ur Rahman Sharifi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (capt), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harsh Dubey, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna, Prince Yadav.