India and NZ have selection concerns for series decider in high-scoring Indore
After a historic Test series win in India in 2024, New Zealand will aim for their maiden ODI series win in the country on Sunday
Sidharth Monga
17-Jan-2026 • 7 hrs ago
Big picture - NZ's shot at a first series win in India
New Zealand have visited India on 16 different occasions for ODI cricket including for four World Cups and a Champions Trophy. They have never been the winners at the end of any of those. Only three times have they forced a decider: they were bowled out for 126 in 1995, brushed aside for 79 in 2016 and failed to close out a chase of 90 in ten overs with seven wickets in hand in 2017.
After having not just won their first Test series but a 3-0 whitewash in India last season, New Zealand will be hoping to get on the board in ODIs as well as they go into the decider in Indore. If they can manage to do it, it will be doubly impressive given the inexperience in their squad: eight first-time visitors to India, a debutant each in the first two matches, and five players with under ten matches under their belts.
Runners-up in the last World Cup and defending champions of the Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup, India are a much stronger side but the amount the conditions change from afternoon to night in the country can test any team. It has been more than three years since India lost a home ODI after winning the toss, but the real challenge will be if they lose the toss.
Form guide
India: LWWLW(last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
New Zealand: WLWWW
New Zealand: WLWWW
In the spotlight: Kuldeep Yadav vs Daryl Mitchell
The last match was in the balance when Kuldeep Yadav came onto bowl but Daryl Mitchell targeted him and turned the chase into a cruise. Kuldeep was guilty of bowling too flat, but it probably goes back to Mitchell being a poor match-up for him. Right now, the contest stands at 149 balls, 161 runs, two wickets. New Zealand can't hope to win without a repeat of this, and Kuldeep will be smarting from this and looking to roar back.
Team news: Does Arshdeep Singh get a game?
India called up offspin-bowling allrounder Ayush Badoni for the injured Washington Sundar, but played Nitish Kumar Reddy in the final XI in the second game. Reddy ended up bowling only two overs, which might tempt India to hand a debut to Badoni, but again, the small boundaries of Indore might count against Badoni. Arshdeep Singh has been impressive of late but he hasn't played in this series. However, the other three fast bowlers have not missed a beat so that remains an interesting selection.
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 Prasidh Krishna/Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox had an impressive debut in Rajkot, but the small Indore boundaries might make New Zealand wonder if they need a wristspinner back, especially when an offspinner is already their captain against a right-hand dominated batting line-up.
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: Runs, runs, runs
This is the ground where Virender Sehwag scored 219 and India 418 over 14 years ago. It is also where India have scored 399 and 385 in their last two matches, the latter against New Zealand three years ago. Temperatures have been ranging between a high in the late 20s and a low in the early 10s. It is perfect weather for cricket, and unless the pitch is unusual, we can expect a lot of runs.
Stats and trivia
- Ravindra Jadeja has only two scores of 50 or more at home, the last one more than ten years ago.
- Shubman Gill needs 70 runs in six innings to become the second-quickest to 3000 ODI runs. Hashim Amla got there in 57 innings; Gill has played 60 for his 2930.
- Gill better hurry up because Mitchell is sure to challenge him. He has 2553 runs in 53 innings, which means he has an outside chance to even break Amla's record, but the second-fastest will definitely be up for grabs.
Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at ESPNcricinfo