Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat as India aim to complete a 3-0 series sweep
Ashok Sharma and Suryansh Shedge replace Prince Yadav and Shivam Dube, while Wellington Masakadza comes in for Richard Ngarava
The Harare wicket is expected to offer good bounce early before slowing down later in the match
India won the toss and elected to bat first against Zimbabwe in the third and final T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday (July 26, 2026).
Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, Shreyas Iyer's Men in Blue are aiming for a 3-0 clean sweep. For Zimbabwe, led by Sikandar Raza, this final match represents an opportunity to salvage pride and avoid a series whitewash in front of their passionate home crowd.
"We're going to bat first considering that we are playing on the same wicket and anticipating for it to get slower and slower," Iyer said tat the toss. "Prince [Yadav] is out, so Ashok Sharma comes in for him. And Shivam Dube is out, Suryansh [Shedge] comes in."
Following an explosive 90-run victory in the second encounter -- powered by Ishan Kishan's blistering 81 and Tilak Varma's unbeaten half-century -- the Indian team management has decided to test their batting depth on a fresh Harare surface.
The pitch is expected to offer good bounce, encouraging the batters to play their shots freely while giving the bowlers something to work with late in the afternoon.
"Yeah, had we won the toss, we were looking to bat first as well," Raza revealed. "But it wasn't because of the slowness of the surface. We know scores have remained pretty good throughout, but we just wanted to bat first today."
"Richard Ngarava unfortunately has a slight niggle, so he misses out and Wellington Masakadza comes in."
India Vs Zimbabwe, 3rd T20I: Toss Update
India have won the toss and have opted to bat.
India Vs Zimbabwe, 3rd T20I: Playing XIs
India XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Ravi Bishnoi, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, and Ashok Sharma.
Zimbabwe XI: Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Wellington Masakadza, and Blessing Muzarabani.
