The Men’s T20 World Cup will commence on February 7. And the next ODI assignment that will truly shift Indian men’s cricket’s focus towards the 2027 ODI World Cup is nearly five months away. With little at stake, the least India can do in the remaining two ODIs against New Zealand — starting with the second match here on a festive day — is offer game-time to as many reserves as possible.
It will therefore be interesting to see whether Nitish Kumar is the only forced change or whether the team management opts for a broader rotation policy across departments. The Indian think-tank was already considering giving Nitish a rare ODI outing; Washington Sundar’s side strain has all but sealed his third ODI cap.
Ahead of the series opener, captain Shubman Gill had indicated that the pace-bowling group would be rotated. It will be interesting to see if Arshdeep Singh is handed an opportunity at the expense of Prasidh Krishna. Both Nitish and Arshdeep had extended spells during India’s optional floodlit net session along with Ayush Badoni who has been called up as Washington’s replacement.
There is also the question of whether head coach Gautam Gambhir is inclined to extend rotation to the top three. With Rohit Sharma, Gill and Virat Kohli forming a settled top-order, Yashasvi Jaiswal has been left out. Gambhir himself faced a similar scenario as a player when he, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were rotated as openers during the 2012 tri-series in Australia.
It remains to be seen if India experiments with top-order rotation — if not here, then in Indore — to hand Jaiswal an opportunity. While Jaiswal took it easy, Dhruv Jurel — the reserve ’keeper-batter — had a long vigil in the nets on Tuesday. That said, few batters would willingly sit out a match on what promises to be a belter at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
While India weighs combinations and personnel, New Zealand will hope to once again punch above its weight. Despite fielding a largely inexperienced bowling unit, the Black Caps pushed India to the brink in Vadodara.
Michael Bracewell’s side will be keen to find answers to the Kohli question. The maestro is in imperious form, having registered five consecutive 50-plus scores — including two hundreds — in his last five ODI outings.
The teams (from): India: Shubman Gill (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (Vice-capt.), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Nitish Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ayush Badoni.
New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (Capt.), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay (wk), Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young.
Match starts at 1.30 p.m.
