Rohit Sharma will be eager to register a series whitewash, following India's fantastic performances in the previous encounters against New Zealand.
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Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has opted to bat after winning the toss in the final T20I of the ongoing three-match series against New Zealand. Rohit stated that he wants to challenge his team as a batting unit, which was the factor that influenced his decision to bat on a pitch that looks a little sticky. Mitchell Santner has been named as the skipper of New Zealand for the final T20I, replacing Tim Southee who was the captain for the previous two matches.
“We are going to bat first. Pitch looks a little sticky and we want to challenge ourselves as a batting unit. We gotta try various things and this is one of them. We want to put runs on the board and give the new set of bowlers a target to defend. KL and Ashwin are rested. Ishan and Chahal come in. We are very clear as to what we want to do that’s why Ishan has to wait for his opportunity, Chahal as well, he has been a champion bowler for us,” said Rohit as quoted by Cricbuzz.
It is certainly interesting to note the fact that the team management has not handed an opportunity to the likes of Avesh Khan, Ruturaj Gaikwad who can be game-changers on their day.
Mitchell Santner admitted that he would have opted to field after winning the toss.
“Yeah (would have bowled). Last few games it has been wet because of the dew. There has been dew throughout. Whatever we do we have to do it well. We have been close, lost a couple of phases especially in the last game during the middle with the bat, we got off to a great start.. But that’s just the way. The Indian openers have come out and build partnerships. We are not far away and hopefully we can put up a complete game today. That’s (Southee) the only change,” stated Santner.
Deep Dasgupta and Ajit Agarkar believes that there might be a “little bit of grip for the bowlers bowling the cutters”.
“This venue has been high scoring compared to the other two and that is because of the dimensions. It has changed over the past few years. It looks quite abrasive though from what we have seen before, so there might be a little bit of grip for the bowlers bowling the cutters. The dew is again going to be an issue. Already the ground is a little damp and it is going to get progressively worse,” read the analysis by Deep Dasgupta and Ajit Agarkar.
Lineups:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner(c), Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal.
