Riding high on confidence following their historic twin series victories in Australia, India will look to begin their tour to New Zealand on high when they head into the opening ODI of the five-match series at McLean Park in Napier on Wednesday.
Here are the live updates:
# Virat Kohli and company are all set to take on New Zealand!
Let’s go #TeamIndia #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/Wvz1KPKnZM
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2019
# Its warm and sunny morning at McLean Park!
Its warm and sunny here at the McLean Park. A look at the pitch for the game.
What are your thoughts? #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/EhW3TDYknR
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2019
Coming on the back of their historic ODI and Test series wins in Australia, the Indian men’s cricket team will be brimming with confidence and look to continue their winning momentum when they head into the five-match ODI series, beginning Wednesday at McLean Park, Napier.
The ODIs, which will run till February 3, will be followed by three T20Is between the two sides from February 6 to 10.
India ended a two-month long tour Down Under on a high note by becoming the first Indian team ever to clinch bilateral Test series and ODI series win in Australia. The visitors sealed the two series by 2-1, while they settled with a 1-1 draw in the T20I series.
Just like the Virat Kohli-led side, New Zealand are also heading into the series following a 3-0 win in the three-match ODI series and 1-0 win in the lone T20I match against Sri Lanka.
As far as squads are concerned, the Indian selectors had decided to rest their premium fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for both the Australia and New Zealand tour.
In his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead India’s pace attack while Mohammed Shami will serve as the as the second bowler. India, however, will decide between Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj and Vijay Shankar for the place of the third bowler.
The Black Caps, on the other hand, have recalled Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme into their 14-member squad for the first three ODIs against India.
The two sides have played a total of 101 ODIs so far, with India winning 51 of them while 44 coming out in favour of New Zealand. At McLean Park, India and New Zealand have previously played each other six times, with the last encounter between them at this venue coming in the first ODI of the five-match series in 2014 when the hosts won by 24 runs.
The opening ODI between the two sides will see the return of international game at McLean Park after the venue missed out on the opportunity to host the same for two years due to drainage problems and subsequent delays in revamping of the outfield.
The upcoming ODI series between the two countries will also serve as a great preparation for them ahead of the 2019 World Cup, which is slated to be held from M.ay 30 to July 14.
The two squads are as follows:
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli(captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Shubman Gill.
New Zealand ODI squad (1st, 2nd & 3rd match): Kane Williamson(c), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
Source: Zee News