Fresh off a series win against Sri Lanka, one-day cricket action for Rohit Sharma and Co moved to Hyderabad as they take on World No 1 side New Zealand. India won the toss and opted to bat first and rung in four changes from the third ODI against Sri Lanka.
Hardik Pandya returned to the side while Shardul Thakur came in for Axar Patel, who is unavailable this series. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav came in for Shreyas Iyer who has been ruled out of the series due to an injury. Additionally, Ishan Kishan will slot into the middle-order in place of KL Rahul and will don the wicket-keeper’s gloves, as confirmed by Rohit in the press-conference ahead of this match.
India vs New Zealand: Rohit Sharma on Ishan Kishan’s return, Mohammed Siraj’s importance and more
After winning the toss, Rohit said, “We want to make sure we want to bowl under lights and defend score. We did well against Sri Lanka, but this is a different challenge. Important for us to keep the momentum going. The spirit in the team is really good.”
New Zealand are also coming off a come-from-behind series win against Pakistan and will be heading into the series with Tom Latham leading the side in the absence of Kane Williamson and Tim Southee.
Latham at the toss said that they would have opted to bowl first anyway and added, “We are missing a couple of key guys from the Pakistan series, but it’s an opportunity for the other guys. We love coming to India and experiencing all that the country has to offer. Most of the squad has pretty much played a good number of games.”
Teams:
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w/c), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami
