Team India retain the squad for the remaining 2 ODIs, Suresh Raina misses out

The Indian selectors have decided to retain the same squad that they picked for the first three ODIs of the India – New Zealand ODI series for the remaining two matches of the series to be played at Ranchi and Vizag. Only one change in the team is that Suresh Raina who despite being a part of the team was not available for selection in the initial three ODIs due to fever is possibly not expected to recover for the remainder of the series and thus has been ruled out.

MS Dhoni and his men have done well in the One-Day series to lead the series 2-1 after the first two matches. Though it hasn’t been as easy as it was in the Tests, the New Zealanders have not really been able to give them a tough competition to make the selectors want to tinker with the team. The second ODI that they won at New Delhi was a close one and could have well gone either way.

The only concern they might have with this team is the opening pair. Both Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma have failed to click together as a pair and that has given New Zealand early openings. A fragile start puts excessive pressure on the middle order and especially Virat Kohli who is expected to score the bulk of the runs each time.

The bright spots for this team are the performance of Kedar Jadhav, Amit Mishra and the new pace bowling pair of Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya that they opted for. Both Yadav and Pandya throbbed in the second ODI where there was assistance for the pacers and have made an admirable in the series thus far.

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It will be interesting to see if Axar Patel will be able to keep his place in the XI in the following matches since he has picked just one wicket in 3 matches while Jadhav who isn’t a regular bowler has 6. The likes of Mandeep Singh and Dhawal Kulkarni who haven’t found themselves a spot in the team will be hoping to get a chance to prove their mettle as both the teams will try to grab the series in the coming two matches.

Here is the Indian squad for the last 2 ODIs against New Zealand:

MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav

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