New Zealand vs India, 4th ODI, Preview: Visitors' bench strength in focus as the Kiwis hope to salvage pride

Not many would’ve thought that the ODI series between India and New Zealand will be one-sided. The fact that the Kiwis have always been the side to give the best of the teams a run for their money in their own den. Moreover, at home they have been a force to reckon with and the recent Sri Lanka thrashing was a testament to it. But India have exposed the frailties in their side and the home team would be keen on solving the issues at the earliest.

With no Virat Kohli in the side, a lot changes for the visitors. There is a notion that Shubman Gill should be handed his international debut for the rest of the matches. Moreover, even Kohli has spoken highly of the youngster which increases the chances of him playing. The fielding coach R Sridhar also confirmed ahead of the game that they will be trying the reserve players in the dead-rubbers.

The Black Caps have Jimmy Neesham back in the side which must’ve bolstered their batting more. He looked in amazing touch against Sri Lanka. Their batting improved remarkably against the spinners in the previous game and with the pitch expected to be flat in Hamilton, they should feel at home finally.

Pitch and Conditions

The average score at the venue in the last five games is 282 and the pitch seems to be the featherbed for the batsmen. The chasing teams have won the last four matches and clearly, the team winning the toss should bowl first. The 3 PM start will lead to the temperatures hovering around 20-25 Degrees Celsius during the match.

Also Read – NZ vs IND 4th ODI Dream 11 Tips

Team Combinations

New Zealand

Jimmy Neesham and Todd Astle should play this game with the like-for-like replacement for Doug Bracewell and Ish Sodhi. Martin Guptill and Colin Munro will continue to open the innings with Kane Williamson and the veteran Ross Taylor will handle the middle overs. Henry Nicholls needs some runs while Tom Latham is fresh off a half-century. Neesham bolsters the batting line-up.

New Zealand might ponder over bringing back Tim Southee with the way India have easily played the leg-spin. Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson are the pace bowlers.

Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee/Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

India

India are definitely going to experiment in this match. Shubman Gill looks set to make his debut in place of Virat Kohli. MS Dhoni is expected to be back after missing the last match due to a sore hamstring. This leaves Dinesh Karthik and Kedar Jadhav fighting out for one spot and the former might get more game time having missed out in the first two matches. Jadhav, on the other hand, has played every game since Australia ODIs.

Mohammad Shami might finally be rested for the first time since England tour. Khaleel Ahmed or Mohammed Siraj might get a go in place of him while the spin twins will continue to feature with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking the new ball.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Focus will be on

Martin Guptill (New Zealand)

Martin Guptill’s scores since comeback century read 13, 2, 1, 5, 15, 13. He is due for a big knock definitely and needs to give himself some time at the start of the innings. If Guptill clicks at the top, New Zealand looks an entirely different batting unit. His failures along with Munro’s poor form has put a lot of pressure on the middle-order in this series which had led to them struggling.

Hardik Pandya (India)

The all-rounder came back with a splendid performance and it didn’t feel like he was playing after a four-month gap. Consistency will be key for Hardik Pandya in the lead up to the World Cup and has got seven ODIs and five T20Is to settle into his rhythm. The team management will also be keen to test his batting by shuffling the batting order in the near future.

Head to Head

Matches – 104 | New Zealand won – 44 | India won – 54 | NR – 5 | Tied – 1

Stat Attack

621 – Martin Guptill has scored 621 runs in 13 innings in Hamilton in ODIs at an average of 56.45 with two centuries and the same number of fifties.

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports Hindi 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD

Live Streaming – Hotstar

Match Timings – 7:30 IST; 15:00 local

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