Australia vs. India, 3rd T20i: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

India can complete a series sweep over their hosts when they take on Australia in the third and final Twenty20 international in Sydney.

Having won the opening game by 37 runs in Adelaide, the tourists moved into an unassailable 2-0 lead courtesy of a 27-run triumph in Melbourne.

Both fixtures have followed the same pattern—India, put into bat by their opponents, post a competitive total that Australia look capable of chasing down until suffering a collapse.

However, the home team have a perfect T20 record at the Sydney Cricket Ground. They have previously recorded victories over England, New Zealand and West Indies at the venue.

Date: Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016

Time: 7:38 p.m. local (8:38 a.m. GMT)

Venue: Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney

Live Stream and TV Info: Channel Nine (Australia), Sky Sport (New Zealand), Super Sport (South Africa), Star Sports (India), Sky Sports (UK), Sky Go (UK—subscription required)

Weather: According to AccuWeather.com, there is a slim chance of rain during Sunday evening. However, the temperatures are still set to be around 20 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Rick Rycroft/Associated Press

Australia's defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was a painful one—and not just because it saw their chances of winning the series disappear.

T20 skipper Aaron Finch made 74 from 48 deliveries for the hosts. However, in the process of being run out when trying to sneak a quick single, the batsman suffered a hamstring injury.

The 29-year-old is no stranger to hamstring problems—he was sidelined for 12 weeks in 2015 after undergoing surgery to repair a tear suffered while playing in the Indian Premier League.

Finch will definitely miss the final game in Sydney while he faces a race against time to be involved in Australia's one-day series in New Zealand, which gets underway on Feb. 3.

Per Daniel Brettig of ESPN Cricinfo, Usman Khawaja has been called up as a replacement. The left-hander is at least in good form—he scored 345 runs for champions Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League, Australia's domestic T20 competition.

Several key members of Australia's initial 17-man party named to face India are also missing for the final home match of the summer.

Steve Smith and David Warner—who both sat out the game at the MCG—plus Josh Hastings, Kane Richardson and Matthew Wade, are away preparing for the upcoming three-match ODI series against the Black Caps.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Cameron Bancroft will make his international bow as Wade's replacement behind the stumps, according to Brydon Coverdale of ESPN Cricinfo.

Cricket Australia are yet to confirm who will take over captaincy duties in the absence of Finch, Smith (the Test and one-day skipper) and Warner, who is vice-captain in the other two formats:

In contrast to their opponents, India have used the same 11 players in both T20 matches played so far.

Even some of those fortunate enough to be picked have had limited opportunities.

Batsman Yuvraj Singh—recalled for T20 duty after more than 18 months in the international wilderness—has yet to make it to the middle, although he did pick up the wicket of Glenn Maxwell in Melbourne with his left-arm spin.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya, meanwhile, is also waiting for an opportunity to impress with the bat.

With the series in the bag, the tourists could easily choose to mix things up in the series finale. However, speaking after the win at the MCG, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni dismissed the idea of making changes.

He said in his post-match press conference, per Sidharth Monga of ESPN Cricinfo: "[The] experiment word is never there with the Indian team. It is never there. Yes we want to see what Yuvraj will do in the batting, we want to see what Hardik can do, but where is the opportunity? That also we have to see."

Their strength in depth will be tested during the coming months.

Ahead of hosting the ICC World Twenty20 in March, India play a three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka on home soil before competing in the 50-over Asia Cup in Bangladesh.

Key Players

Australia

Finch's pain can be Khawaja's gain. The left-hander has been in outstanding touch during a summer that has seen him cement a place in Australia's Test XI.

Khawaja's chance in T20 cricket couldn't come at a better time, either. His last three scores in the Big Bash were: 62, 104 not out and 70. While Finch and Warner are Australia's first-choice opening pair in limited-overs cricket, other spots in the batting order are still up for grabs.

India

Virat Kohli simply loves playing in Australia. After averaging 76.20 in the one-dayers that India lost 4-1, the right-hander has now amassed 149 runs in two T20 matches and has yet to be dismissed.

He now averages 50.65 in the shortest format for India. Per statistician Mohandas Menon on Twitter, the next highest average for a batsmen who has scored over 1,000 international T20 runs is South African JP Duminy with 38.20.

Squads

Australia

Scott Boland, Cameron Bancroft (wkt), Cameron Boyce, James Faulkner, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Shaun Tait, Andrew Tye, Shane Watson

India

MS Dhoni (capt and wkt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishi Dhawan, Ashish Nehra