India vs New Zealand, 4th ODI: Preview and Predicted Playing XI

After securing the series with a magnificent seven wicket win over the Kiwis in the 3rd ODI, India will aim to continue their dominance in the next two fixtures to register their maiden clean sweep over the hosts in their own den.

For now, they will visit the Seddon Park in Hamilton for the fourth ODI on January 31.

Head to Head Overall: The Men in Blue and the Kiwis have gone head to head in 99 completed One Day Internationals , with the Blues leading the win count at 54-44, while sharing the honours on one occasion.

Head to Head in New Zealand: Till date, the Kiwis have welcomed India in 35 completed ODIs. Out of those, New Zealand have won 21 and India have won 13.

While in case of matches being played at the Seddon Park, the scoreline heavily favours the hosts, 4-1.

Previous Clash at the Seddon Park: Both teams previously played here on January 28, 2014, with the hosts winning that fixture by seven wickets.

Opting to bat first, India, with the help of Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni's knocks, posted 278 on the board. But their well played knocks went in vain as Ross Taylor smashed an unbeaten ton to get the Kiwis over the finish line.

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India

India will look to continue their dominance

With skipper Virat Kohli being rested, Rohit Sharma will perform captaincy duties for the remaining fixtures. The stand-in skipper will bear the responsibility and will be looking to enhance his captaincy record even more.

Batting

The opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Rohit Sharma will once again lead the platform and both have been the leading run scorers of the series with 169 and 160 runs respectively.

Both have been in good touch with two fifties in three games and look set for another big knock here. In the absence of Kohli, middle order duties will be on Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav, and all have done well in recent games and will be expected to take the innings towards a decent total in case of early jolts.

With MS Dhoni's participation still under the scanner, youngster Shubman Gill might make his debut in the upcoming fixture.

Bowling

The bowling unit looks settled with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami.

All four have been performing well and have taken eight, six, four and seven wickets respectively. Comeback man Hardik Pandya also grabbed two wickets in the second ODI and he, along with Kedar Jadhav, will be skipper's key shuffles during middle overs.

Expected Playing XI

Rohit Sharma (C), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni/Shubman Gill, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (W), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya.

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New Zealand

New Zealand are expected to make few changes to the playing XI.

The Kiwis have not been able to break the spin jinx and have now lost their previous five matches they have played against India.

Though they will try to take a few positives from their previous record at this venue and avoid some embarrassment by winning the remaining fixtures in the series.

Batting

Ross Taylor has been their key run scorer this series with 139 runs and has scored a century in India's previous meeting at this venue. The veteran will be expected to replicate his 2014 heroics in this game.

Kane Williamson has been the only other campaigner to show some resistance against the Indian attack and one may expect him to counter the bowlers here.

They will also have a lot of hopes on their under-performing openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill to come out with decent knocks and set the tone for the team.

Bowling

After poor outings in previous matches, Ish Sodhi has been asked to make way for Todd Astle for the next two games and he is likely to make his way into the playing XI in the next fixture.

Trent Boult has taken four wickets in the last two matches and has been most effective among the lot. He, along with Lockie Ferguson and Tim Southee, will share the responsibility to rattle the Indian top order early on, or else it will be another cakewalk for the visitors.

Expected Playing XI

Kane Williamson (C), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham (W), Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Southee and Ross Taylor.

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