Star India pacer Prasidh Krishna was dropped from the playing XI on Sunday, January 18, to make a place for Arshdeep Singh, as Shubman Gill won the toss and put New Zealand in to bat first in the third and deciding ODI of the series.
In the second ODI, Prasidh gave away 49 runs in his nine overs while defending 285. Although the likes of Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav were all more expensive than him in the game, Prasidh had to face the axe.
The inclusion, though, would come as a massive boost for Arshdeep, who was benched after Mohammed Siraj joined the ODI squad. Notably, he has played three ODIs against New Zealand in 2022, but couldn’t pick up any wickets.
“We will bowl first. That is what we spoke about
(on the decision to bowl), batting first, New Zealand put us under pressure. One of the decisions we are bowling first is that the surface looks good, don’t expect a lot of dew, runs on the board would let us chase better,” Gill said after winning the toss.
“Need to vary our lengths in the middle-overs, that is what we want to do. One change, Arshdeep comes in place of Prasidh,” Gill added.
New Zealand, who pulled off a comprehensive win in the second ODI, didn’t make any changes to their playing XI.
India have remained unbeaten in bilateral ODI series at home since March 2019, when Australia came back from 0-2 down to win 3-2, including the decider in Delhi. That streak, however, is now at risk.
The Black Caps have toured India for bilateral ODIs since 1989 but have never won a series in India and this is their best chance to break that barren run.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir will be keen to avoid another home setback after experiencing multiple unwanted firsts under his tenure.
