Photo by Deepak Malik / Sportzpics for BCCI
The amount of humiliation New Zealand had to face when they were whitewashed in the 5 match T20I series to India was huge. Everyone thought that India would brush aside the Kiwis in the 3 match ODI series as well especially with their mainstream players ruled out due to injuries but little did we know, the Kiwis thumped the mighty Indians who were in red hot form with 1 match to spare.
India will be looking to salvage some pride by showing what they are capable of in the 3rd ODI.
Here we take a look at the predicted XIs of both the teams for the dead rubber
India
For India, as the captain said its all about expressing themselves on the field without worrying much about the result. They will look to give the players who haven’t got a game in this tour. The Indian team management has been brutally harsh on Rishabh Pant to say the least.
The raw and dynamic southpaw was the designated wicket-keeper who was seen as a potential who could fill the mighty shoes of the legend MS Dhoni but its looking like curtains for Rishabh Pant about his future in the playing XI.
Ever since Rahul was made as a designated wicket-keeper batsman, Rishabh Pant didn’t played even a single game in the Indian jersey. India have played 9 games in-between. The young and talented Rishabh Pant deserves to get a go in the playing XI in the 3rd ODI as he will have no pressure since it is a dead rubber.
Predicted XI
1. Prithvi Shaw
2. Mayank Agarwal
3. Virat Kohli
4. Shreyas Iyer
5. KL Rahul
6. Manish Pandey/Rishabh Pant
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Shardul Thakur
9. Navdeep Saini
10. Yuzvendra Chahal
11. Mohammad Shami
New Zealand
The Kiwis will be bolstered by the return of their captain and a champion player Kane Williamson. As per reports, he has been declared fit to take part in the 3rd ODI, unless something strange happens in the eleventh hour. Their leading leggie Ish Sodhi who was sent back to take part in the NZ A vs Ind A game has been recalled since the participation of the pace spearhead Tim Southee has been under the scanner due to his illness.
Predicted XI
1. Martin Guptill
2. Henry Nicholls
3. Kane Williamson
4. Ross Taylor
5. Tom Latham
6. Jimmy Neesham
7. Colin de Grandhomme
8. Mark Chapman
9. Kyle Jamieson
10. Hamish Bennett
11. Ish Sodhi/Blair Tickner