Predicted India squad for last two ODIs against New Zealand

After the first three ODIs, Team India lead the series 2-1. They fielded a relatively inexperienced squad resting both their premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja along with pacer Mohammad Shami for the initial three ODIs. That gave players like Axar Patel, Amit Mishra and Hardik Pandya a great chance to claim a spot for themselves in the team.

Left-hander Suresh Raina was also included in the squad given his ability with the ball but he couldn’t make it to the team in either of the games since he is down with fever. Maharashtra batsman Kedar Jadhav who also bowls off-spin like Raina got an opportunity to play against a top opposition. Skipper MS Dhoni likes the players who can multi-task and in the very first ODI he handed over the ball to Jadhav even before turning to his full-time spinners.

He responded immediately and got the skipper two wickets in his second over. Jadhav has 6 wickets after 3 ODIs in the series and most of his wickets have been top order batsmen. He scalped Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson who hit a century in the previous match in the Mohali ODI. When he was required to bat with solidity at Delhi he had a key partnership with Dhoni and scored 41 runs. He has definitely done enough to retain his place in the team.

While there is no clarity on Raina’s availability the selectors might opt to replace him with another southpaw Yuvraj Singh who played a commendable knock in the Ranji Trophy scoring 177 against Madhya Pradesh in the previous round of the Ranji Trophy.

Another change that the selectors might want to make is to bring in a specialist opener. The Mumbai pair of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane has failed to give the team a start in either of the games and that has put a lot of pressure on the middle order while they have opted to chase in all the matches.

While they would not want to take chances with KL Rahul’s fitness given he is seen as a part of the Test team as well and will have a stretch of assignments in the near future Shikhar Dhawan isn’t a part of the Test XI anymore and if he is fit, might get a look in just to bring a regular opener to partner Rohit and push Rahane back  to the middle-order.

The selectors picked left-arm spinner Axar Patel while resting Ravi Jadeja but the 22-year-old has just one wicket in the three games and thus it seems a possibility that they might call back Jadeja to complete the series.

Predicted Indian squad for the last 2 ODIs:

MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mandeep Singh, Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Amit Mishra