Although, India have already won the series, but the selection of playing XI for the 3rd test might cause some headache for both the captain as well as the coach. There seems to be a strong competition between Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel . While Kuldeep has been with the side since the beginning of the series, Axar is likely to join the side on Thursday. But one thing that goes in favour of Patel is that he has proved to be a better batsman than Yadav over the years. Patel might get the nod as a bowling all-rounder,  to balance the side. Earlier, Jadeja was suspended for the third Test as his accumulated demerit points reached six within a 24-month period following his latest breach of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test .

“If India stick to playing two spinners in Pallekele, something which they have do make the ball bounce as much as Jadeja, which is what we're looking for. Axar can be dangerous in these conditions," said a source in the team management.

 Team: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice captain), Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, W Saha (wk), Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, M Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.