NEW DELHI: With the series already in bag, India might be tempted to move away from the established combination and give some game time to the awe-inspiring Vaibhav Sooryavanshi among others when they take on Afghanistan in the inconsequential third T20 International here on Thursday.
Playing in familiar conditions, India have played like an unstoppable force, making the dangerous Afghanistan outfit look ordinary.
Having sealed the series on Tuesday night, India captain Shreyas Iyer said there could be a change in the combination for the final game at Ferozshah Kotla to give players on the bench much-needed time before they fly to Japan for the Asian Games beginning September 19.
The selections so far have made it clear that India are not willing to go out of the way to make room for Sooryavanshi who made his debut on the tour of England in July when Sanju Samson was not in the best of form.
Now both Samson and Abhishek Sharma are in good touch and considering they both are one-format regulars, they would not want to be rested, leaving the management to make that call.
"We want all of them to get used to the wicket and the conditions and also get some practice. So, it would be a nice game to give opportunities to the players, especially who have been sitting out, and also change a little bit in the combination as well," said Iyer after another dominating win.
Another option to fit Sooryavanshi in the playing eleven would be to give Ishan Kishan a rest.
Kishan captained East Zone to the Duleep Trophy before linking up with the national squad. Samson has been performing the wicket-keeping duties in the ongoing series.
Also the management would want Iyer and Tilak Varma to get some time in the centre with the destructive top-three leaving little to do for the rest of the batters in the first two games.
With top three blowing away the opposition, the likes of Nitish Reddy and Shivam Dube are yet to bat in the series.
On the bowling front, from the team's point of view, it was heartening to see a fit again Reddy among the wickets on Tuesday.
He is seen as a back up for injury-prone star Hardik Pandya, making him an important figure in the team's plans going forward.
Playing in place of an injured Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi had a decent run in the second T20 and is likely to be given another opportunity.
The new-ball combination of Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh has been impressive as ever too.
Afghanistan will have to find a way to deal with the seasoned pacers in the powerplay and then build their innings from there. They have been underwhelming with the bat, not giving themselves enough chance to compete against their mighty opponents.
If they are batting first again, Afghanistan must post at least 200 to push India.
"We thought about the things that how to improve that 150-160 to 200 plus. So we need to bring that intent to the team...we should go with the right intent to score, 200 plus.
"I'm pretty sure we will improve that area if you want to beat, biggest team in international stage," said Afghanistan skipper Ibrahim Zadran after another heavy defeat.
An improved performance in the final game will lift their spirits too before they board the flight to Japan.
Afghanistan: Ibrahim Zadran (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor ul Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sediqullah Atal, Rashid Khan, Darwish Rasooli, Nangeyalia Kharoti, Naveen-ul-Haq, Abdullah Ahmadzai.
India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Thakur.
Match starts at 7.30pm.