India halt NZ's winning run and eye series spoils
Who will take the injured Washington Sundar's place? Nitish Reddy or Ayush Badoni?
Sidharth Monga
13-Jan-2026 • 10 hrs ago
Big picture - Can India seal another series win?
Just like that, New Zealand's nine-match winning streak has been halted. Such is the sway of conditions that this was the favourite result even though their opponents, India, were 3-3 in their last six matches.
However, New Zealand can take heart from having dragged India to the 99th over of the match despite losing the toss. They will feel if they can do the same and find 20 more runs from somewhere they can threaten to shock full-strength India even with their inexperienced side.
India, on the other hand, will know they got through despite not being at their best with the bat. They largely bowled well to keep New Zealand to 300, but will not be happy with the struggle after Virat Kohli got out. They will quietly believe that if they can be close to their best they can seal the series even if they lose the toss and then hope to experiment in the final ODI.
Speaking of the toss, this new Rajkot stadium has a small sample size of four ODIs, but no side has chased successfully there yet. The formula, though, has been the same: bury the opposition under 350 if you are batting first.
Form guide
India: WWLWW(last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand: LWWWW
New Zealand: LWWWW
In the spotlight: Kohli and Mitchell
Kohli and Daryl Mitchell are currently their sides' best and in-form batters. They both came within striking distance of centuries in the first ODI. However, Kohli carries less of the team's burden, which has resulted in a free-flowing avatar in the final leg of his career. Mitchell will have to do more of that heavy lifting to keep New Zealand competitive.
Team news: Who replaces Washington?
Ayush Badoni is the injured Washington Sundar's replacement in the squad thanks largely to his part-time bowling success in recent times. However, Nitish Kumar Reddy is already in the squad. The conditions might determine if Badoni gets a debut. Also Arshdeep Singh could replace Prasidh Krishna.
India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill (capt.), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy/Ayush Badoni, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Henry Nicholls has slotted nicely into the opening role, which has made a slot available for wicketkeeper Mitchell Hay in the middle order. Legspinner Adithya Ashok had a chastening experience in Vadodara but New Zealand could stick with him. The other option is left-arm fingerspin of Jayden Lennox.
New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Henry Nicholls, 3 Will Young, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Mitchell Hay (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell (capt.), 8 Kristian Clarke, 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Zak Foulkes, 11 Adithya Ashok/Jayden Lennox
Pitch and conditions: Win toss and chase or...
Rajkot, like Vadodara, is experiencing pleasant weather. Vadodara didn't have enough dew to make gripping the ball difficult but the pitch did quicken up slightly in the cooler temperature. If you maximise your innings batting first, the toss should not be that big a factor in Rajkot because teams are now used to dealing with moderate amounts of dew.
Stats and trivia
- Vadodara was the first time in the last 13 ODIs that India's bowlers went wicketless in the powerplay.
- Among visiting teams that have played India in India at least 20 times, New Zealand hold the worst win-loss record of 1-4, winning eight and losing 32 matches.
Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo