Can New Zealand challenge India's strong home record?
Three days after beating Sri Lanka 3-0, Rohit Sharma's men are up against their next opponent
Big picture: India dominant in ODIs at home too
It isn't spoken about as much as their remarkable home record in Test cricket, but India are perhaps just as dominant in ODIs in their own conditions. Since the start of 2010, they've played 25 bilateral home series, and won 22 of them.Form guide
India WWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)New Zealand WWLWL
In the spotlight: Chance for Kishan to make his case
India have made it clear that their preferred opening combination leading up to the World Cup is Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. It leaves no room in their first-choice XI for Ishan Kishan, whose last ODI innings was the fastest double-hundred in the format. But he gets an opportunity now with KL Rahul missing the series for personal reasons. If he can grab this chance, he won't just keep putting pressure on multiple batters in India's ODI line-up but also make a case to be selected ahead of KS Bharat in the first Test against Australia next month.Team news: Iyer out with back injury
Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the series with a back injury, and Rajat Patidar has taken his place in the squad. Iyer's spot in the XI, however, is likely to go to Suryakumar Yadav, with Kishan taking the keeping gloves and the other middle-order slot from Rahul. Washington Sundar is likely to come in for Axar Patel, who's also sitting out this series.Pitch and conditions: Hyderabad pitch likely to aid spin
In six ODIs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, spinners have averaged 38.70 and conceded 4.96 runs per over, both significantly better than the fast bowlers' corresponding figures (though it must be noted that they bowl more overs in the difficult phases) of 40.84 and 5.74. In the most recent ODI here, in March 2019, India won by six wickets after their spinners - Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav - returned combined figures of 27-0-110-3 to restrict Australia to 236. Expect spin, therefore, to play a significant role on Wednesday. The weather is set to be clear, with a maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius.Stats and trivia
- Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan are the joint-fastest India batters to the 1000-run mark in ODIs. Both took 24 innings to get there. Shubman Gill, who currently has 894 runs from 18 innings, has a chance to claim the record during this series.
- The last time New Zealand played an ODI in India without Tim Southee or Trent Boult in their line-up was in December 2010.
- Since the start of 2022, Mohammed Siraj is the leading wicket-taker among bowlers from Full Member teams. He has taken 33 wickets in this period, at an average of 19.87.
- India will become the No. 1-ranked ODI side if they win the series 3-0. If they also win the T20I series, and then beat Australia by a 2-0 or 3-1 scoreline or better in the Test series in February-March, they will become the No. 1 side across formats.
Karthik Krishnaswamy is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo