India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma explains why Pant is not part of playing XI for 3rd T20I

India and Australia are currently locking horns against each other in the third T20I of their three-match series on Sunday. The match is being played at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. India and Australia will both try to win the game to clinch the series, which is currently tied at 1-1. India's starting lineup had only had one change to the playing XI with Bhuvneshwar Kumar coming in place of Rishabh Pant.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been added since the team required an additional bowler. According to Rohit, Bhuvneshwar wasn't used in the previous game and Rishabh was brought in since there were fewer overs and they just needed 4 bowlers. Due to the delayed start brought on by the damp outfield in the second T20I, the game was reduced to 8 overs a side.

"We will bowl first. It's good to be back in Hyderabad and play in front of this crowd. We look to keep winning games, it's important to maintain your momentum in this format of the game, so it was a good win for us (in Nagpur). Australia have always been challenging, they bring in a different kind of challenge. We need to keep doing the basics right if we have to get success. The last win helped us gain confidence and I hope everyone steps up today," Rohit said at the toss.

"One change for us - Bhuvi is back, Rishabh misses out. We needed only 4 bowlers in the last game, so he (Bhuvneshwar) unfortunately missed out," Rohit added.

India vs Australia: Playing XIs

India's Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal.    

Australia's playing XI: Cameron Green, Aaron Finch (c), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Tim David, Matthew Wade, Daniel Sams, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

Image: IndianCricketTeam/Instagram