4th ODI: India vs New Zealand team news, playing XIand pitch conditions
India retained the same 14-man squad for the remaining two one-day internationals of the series against New Zealand and the question is will the homeside stick with the same 11 players for a fourth straight game.
India play NewZealand in Ranchi on Wednesday with the hosts leading the series 2-1.
So far, MS Dhoni has decided to go with the exact same playing XI for the first three matches, which has meant that Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni and Mandeep Singh have watched from the bench. With Suresh Raina missing the first three games through illness and then not being picked, as he continues his recovery, for the final two matchesas well, these three remain the players yet to tastesome action.
Dhoni is someone who does not like to tinker with the team, especially right after a win, but the whole point of playing these one-day matches is to see who can stand up to the international test and if they can be options for the Champions Trophy next year.The only way to find that out for sure is by giving them an opportunity to perform. Mandeep might find it difficult to get into the side, considering the opening slot is taken up by two senior players in Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, with both extremelydisappointing in this series so far.
Rahane really needs to show his one-day batting chops, otherwise he will be one of those players consigned tothe bench when Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul return from injury.Jayant Yadav could come in for one of the spinners – Amit Mishra or Axar Patel. Mishra has been excellent with the ball, so if Dhoni feels the needfor an off-spinner – he might think a specialistcould be really effective, considering how big an impact Kedar Jadhav had had with his part-time off-spin – Jayant could come in for Axar,who has not quite done enough with either bat or ball.
The Ranchi pitch looked dry with very little grass on the surface, sothe pitch might help the spinners and Axar is not someone who turns to ball too much.Dhawal Kulkarni has a case to come infor Umesh Yadav, who looked out of sorts in the last one-day match, while he could also use a rest considering he featured inthe Test matches as well.New Zealand look like keeping much of the same side for the fourth ODI, even if there is a callto be made over Luke Ronchi and if he could do with a rest. Ronchi has not looked like his usual batting self inthis series and considering how impressive BJ Watling was in the Test matches, it might not be that bad an idea to swap wicketkeepersfor this game.Jimmy Neesham rescued New Zealand with the bat in the last ODI, so the all-rounder should keep his place, after coming infor Anton Devcich. There is a case for Devcich to play ahead of Corey Anderson, though, considering the latter has looked out of sortsand the former will provide an extra bowling option.
Expected playing XI:
India: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (C), Manish Pandey, KedarJadhav, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, BJWatling, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Trent Boult.
