India and New Zealand are locking horns in the fifth and final ODI of the series at Bay Oval. The Men in Blue lead the series 2-1 and they need to win this fixture to win the series.
A win for NZ will see the series end in a 2-2 draw. India, who are without the services of many regular players, are playing without Gurnoor Brar as well. With nine wickets in three games, Gurnoor has been India’s pick of the bowlers in the series.
Gurnoor’s ODI success earned him a place in the Test squad as well. He has been part of the Test team in the past but is uncapped in red-ball cricket. The BCCI made a change to the Test squad before the fifth game and replaced Kuldeep Yadav with Gurnoor.
Kuldeep, who played the fourth ODI, was dropped for the fifth game. He will return to India after the ongoing fixture and play for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket.
India’s updated Test squad: Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK], Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar
India asked to bat
India lost their first toss in the series in the fifth game and they have been asked to bat first. The Men in Blue brought in Mohammed Siraj and Yash Thakur into the playing XI. Yash, who is capped in T20Is, was given his maiden ODI cap before the game.
“He (Yash) is a jovial guy who has been waiting for the opportunity to play for the country and has been in the scheme of things for a while. I’m glad he’s getting the opportunity to prove himself today. It’s his debut, so good luck to him,” captain Shreyas Iyer said at the toss.
Here are playing XIs of both teams
India: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (Captain), Will Young, Tim Seifert, Nick Kelly, Dean Foxcroft, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher