Ranchi’s association with cricket more or less revolves around only one individual. However, the person in question happens to be one of India’s most successful limited-overs captains who recently even spawned a biopic which took the box-office by storm. MS Dhoni returns to his hometown after revealing his intentions of batting up the order and adopting a more hands-on approach in the latter phase of his career.
With the series at 2-1, the 35-year old would want to put future plans on the back burner and focus on securing an unassailable lead. India’s previous ODI series victory against a team not named Zimbabwe came during November 2014 against Sri Lanka. Incidentally, the final match of that particular series also took place in Ranchi, but Dhoni did not play that game.
On the other hand, New Zealand will be hoping to gatecrash the occasion and take the action to the decider. A change in fortunes at the toss could go a long way in helping their cause with the onset of dew severely hampering them in the previous match. Skipper Kane Williamson might need a more sustained focus from his players in order to salvage something substantial from their lengthy Indian sojourn.
Match Details
Venue: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
Date: 26 October, 2016 (Wednesday)
Time: 0800 GMT / 1330 IST
Broadcast: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 in English / Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD 3 in Hindi
Online Stream: www.hotstar.com/sports/cricket
Recent Form
India: W-L-W-W-W
New Zealand: L-W-L-W-L
Team Talk
India
The big news from the Indian camp was Suresh Raina’s continued unavailability for the ODI series after the southpaw could not recuperate sufficiently from a viral fever that had caused him to miss the first 3 matches as well. Seeing as the team management did not ask for a replacement, the batting department should remain unchanged.
With Kedhar Jadhav providing him with an additional spin option, Dhoni might not mind going in with the same bowling combination. As a consequence, the likes of Mandeep Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni and Jayant Yadav could have to wait until the series is sealed before bringing themselves into the fray.
New Zealand
Among the major concerns for the Kiwis would be the lack of adequate output from the middle order. Though they have a sturdy customer in BJ Watling, it remains to be seen if the wicket-keeper batsman comes into the picture.
Williamson and coach Mike Hesson have not veered away from relying on their seam bowlers to share the bulk of the workload. However, a drier surface in Ranchi could present an opportunity to bring back Ish Sodhi in place of one of the quicker men.
Possible Lineups
India
Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand
Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry/Ish Sodhi
Conditions Watch
Since its debut in the January 2013 ODI between India and England, JSCA Stadium has witnessed only a couple more 50-over international contests. There is an increased likelihood of the surface assisting spinners which would mean that the batsmen will be required to get themselves in before flexing their muscles. A warm day with a discernible cloud cover is expected.
Key Stats
Virat Kohli has batted twice at this venue and is yet to be dismissed with scores of 77 and 139. Both those knocks resulted in successful chases.
Axar Patel needs only two more wickets to complete 100 scalps in List-A matches. 32 of those wickets have come in ODIs.
Martin Guptill requires 117 runs to become just the fifth New Zealand batsman to complete 5000 ODI runs after Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor.
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