Fantasy Picks - Ross Taylor's your man, but beware of revamped XIs
Fantasy suggestions for the third ODI between New Zealand and India
Srinath Sripath
10-Feb-2020
February 11: New Zealand v India, 3rd ODI, Mount Maunganui
Our XI: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli, Tom Latham, Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), Ross Taylor (capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Kyle Jamieson, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
NOTE: New Zealand have won the series 2-0 and both sides are likely to make some changes to their XI. Virat Kohli indicated as much at the post-match presentation in Auckland, that India's reserves will get a game in the final ODI. We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so keep an eye on the team news at the toss before locking your team in.
Captain: Ross Taylor
After a T20I series where he found form but repeatedly faltered at the finish, Ross Taylor has redeemed himself with a couple of big match-winning performances in the ODIs. He's the leading run-getter in the series so far, and hasn't been dismissed yet.
Vice-captain: Shreyas Iyer
Iyer is India's highest run-getter with 155 runs, and made his first ODI hundred in the first game of the series. With consistent performances throughout both the limited-overs legs, he seems to have firmed up his position in India's middle order.
Hot picks
Martin Guptill: Following on from a World Cup where he struggled to get going after a high-flying start, Guptill finally found form in the second ODI in Auckland. He made his first fifty in 11 ODI innings, and when he gets going, you don't want to lose out on big batting points.
Virat Kohli: Kohli is never far away from being the most important player in fantasy XIs, and by his high standards, he hasn't exactly been lighting up this series. He made a fifty in the first game, before a rare failure in the second. It has been eight ODI innings since his last hundred, and that counts as a long time given his prolific history.
Ravindra Jadeja: Jadeja hasn't picked up too many wickets - just one from two ODIs this series - but he is among the most economical bowlers across both sides at a rate of 4.95 runs per over. Add to it his fine batting form whenever he's had a chance, and you have a shoo-in for your fantasy line-up.
Value picks
Kyle Jamieson: The tall quick was handed a call-up after consistent domestic performances, and he went beyond his brief with a crucial batting contribution to go with his two wickets on debut. The previous game's Player of the Match has got to make your side.
Henry Nicholls: Nicholls has powered New Zealand's batting performances with two solid starts to their innings. He has 119 runs at 59.50, and is coming off a strong run of form on New Zealand's domestic circuit.
Points to note
- India won both games they played in Mount Maunganui last year, and the track has produced high scores more often than not, as an average first-innings total of 296 in day-night games indicates
- As mentioned earlier, there are likely to be quite a few changes to the teams, especially India, who could be looking to rest some members of their Test squad and those like KL Rahul who have been playing non-stop. Depending on who's in the XIs, you could look at slotting some of these big names in after the toss
Srinath Sripath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo