The Indian fans who could save third T20

Warner, Smith and Maxwell are usually the names with Australia's T20 fortunes in their hands, but Duckworth, Lewis and Stern are again set to make their presence felt in India.

With rain forecast for tonight's series-decider in Hyderabad (12.30am Saturday AEDT), the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern system, which has been applied in two Australian defeats during the limited-overs tour, could be decisive in the final match.

After persistent periods of rain in the lead-up to tonight's match, the outfield at Rajiv Ghandi International Cricket Stadium is soft and muddy.

Three pedestal fans propped up by plastic chairs were aimed at a particularly wet patch on Thursday, in an unorthodox attempt to make the ground match-ready.

David Warner will again lead Australia in the absence of Steve Smith, while Glenn Maxwell needs a form reversal to put his destructive stamp on the match.

Maxwell slid down the batting order to No.5 in game two, allowing Moises Henriques to bat at No.3 where he smashed an unbeaten 62 to guide his side home.

He put on 109 with Travis Head, who is hopeful that partnership has stopped the rot in Australia's middle order.

"We just tinkered training a little bit and tried to do different things," Head said.

"We've put pressure on the batters in the nets and that accountability we've been talking about, it showed in the last game."

Weather permitting, Australia have a shot at an upset series victory which would see them leapfrog India in the world T20 rankings.

That would be in stark contrast to the deflating 4-1 ODI series defeat which appeared to give the hosts momentum to continue their dominance over Australia in the shortest format.

"If the bowlers can do what they did and get us in the game like they have all series it would be fantastic," Head said.

"As batters you want to be there and win games of cricket for Australia and we were able to do that. With the series on the line tomorrow hopefully can someone do that again."

Fast bowler Kane Richardson is likely to come into calculations with Andrew Tye the most likely player to make way after playing in the first two T20s.

Paceman Jason Behrendorff will be aiming to pick up where he left off in game two after a match-winning four-wicket haul.

Veteran Indian quick Ashish Nehra is a chance to play after announcing on Thursday he will retire from cricket after the T20 clash against New Zealand on November 1.

The 38-year-old bows out of the game almost two decades after his international debut.

Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia squad: David Warner (c), Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Axar Patel.

T20 Fixtures

October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad