New Zealand vs India: MS Dhoni declared fit to play in Wellington

Team India played without Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni for the first time since 2015 and they were bundled for 92. The latter was struggling with his hamstring injury and in the process, missed the last two games. However, the Men in Blue will be bolstered for the fifth and final ODI as the veteran has been declared fit and is set to don the gloves in Wellington.

MS Dhoni has been in great form with the bat in 2019 so far. In four innings, he has amassed 241 runs with three half-centuries to his name and has only been dismissed once. His wicket-keeping abilities have never been doubted and the fact that he is returning behind the stumps eventually helps the spinners as well. The likes of Kedar Jadhav and Kuldeep Yadav didn’t look much confident in the last couple of games and Dhoni’s presence will help them more.

Who will make way for Dhoni?

Sanjay Bangar, Team India’s assistant coach, declared MS Dhoni fit in the pre-match press conference and confirmed that he will play in Wellington. However, it will be interesting to see who replaces him in the line-up. India’s number 4,5 and 6 together mustered just one run in Hamilton ODI.

One of Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik could be the casualties. Both of them had a golden opportunity to seal their place in the side after the openers got out early but the duo played poor strokes to gift their wicket away.

Shubman Gill also didn’t do much on his debut and could score only nine runs. But the management would be eager to see more of him and it will be harsh on the youngster to be dropped just after one game. The chief selector MSK Prasad has already cleared that Gill could be the backup opener for the World Cup and he deserves another chance with KL Rahul still struggling.

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