Suresh Raina still down with illness while Rohit Sharma fit to play at Mohali

Southpaw Suresh Raina has not recovered from the Viral fever yet and is set to miss the third ODI against New Zealand in Mohali. It seems that the left-hander “requires more time to recover” from the illness. Raina has already missed the first two ODIs in Dharamsala and Delhi. Raina has been on the sidelines this year after being was dropped for the ODIs in Australia and the limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe earlier this year besides the two-match T20 series against the West Indies in the USA. He is yet to play an ODI for the country since October 2015.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma, whose availability was in doubts after he hurt himself while batting, has been termed, fit to play. Sharma had left the field with a painful forearm after getting out cheaply in the 8th over during India’s chase of 243 runs at Delhi. The right-hander was caught by wicket-keeper Ronchi after failing to connect a rising delivery from Trent Boult. Sharma was immediately seen in terrible pain after completing the shot and the physio had to rush in. India will now most likely play with the same XI.  The likes of Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have sealed their slots in the team for the upcoming game.

New Zealand produced a fantastic all-round performance to win the second ODI at Kolkata and level the series 1-1. In spite of the loss, in the previous game, India will begin as favourites but New Zealand also has its own positives to seek inspiration from.