India vs New Zealand, 4th ODI — Series triumph in mind as MS Dhoni hopes to make home comfort count
After a hugely impressive triumph over New Zealand in the 3rd ODI at Mohali, Indian team visits the Ranchi stadium, the home of skipper MS Dhoni.
Virat Kohli was India’s star performer in Mohali, where Dhoni also contributed crucial 80 runs, batting at №4 spot.
The match in Ranchi will be ultra-special for the stadium crowd as the limited-overs captain and the city’s favourite son might well be seen in his last appearance at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association Stadium Complex — which has hosted three ODIs and one T20I — India winning all of them barring a rain-washed one-day.
Though both Kohli and Dhoni are extremely established and reliable names in the middle order, a question still arises on the Indian squad, which was retained for the 4th and 5th ODIs, to efficiently finish the innings. Hardik Pandya, who has shown has the potential for becoming a capable finisher, is still in his early days and should not be burdened with too much pressure already.
The biggest concern for the Indian captain is the opening pairning — Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane — which has left India wandering for a solid start in the begining.
Dhoni will be hoping to see his openers in more sync and not make the squad dig deep in finding answers to the challenges posed by New Zealand bowlers.
Toss will carry extra importance in this match as well, as we have seen whosoever wins the toss goes on to win the match.
India Squad
MS Dhoni © (wk), JJ Bumrah, KM Jadhav, V Kohli, DS Kulkarni, Mandeep Singh, A Mishra, MK Pandey, HH Pandya, AR Patel, AM Rahane, RG Sharma, J Yadav, UT Yadav
New Zealand Squad
KS Williamso ©, CJ Anderson, TA Boult, DAJ Bracewell, AP Devcich, MJ Guptill, MJ Henry, TWM Latham, JDS Neesham, L Ronchi (wk), MJ Santner, IS Sodhi, TG Southee, LRPL Taylor, BJ Watling
via:fuzzmint