Kolkata: India will look to go for the clean sweep against New Zealand with a victory when the two teams face off in the final match of the T20I series at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. The hosts have won the first-two matches by a comfortable margin and will be eyeing a similar performance in the final one as well.
In the last game in Ranchi, India registered a comfortable 7 wicket victory over the visitors. After a blistering start by Martin Guptill(31) and Daryl Mitchell(31), the Kiwis lost their plot in the middle overs only getting 153 on the board with Glenn Phillips(34) adding a flourish towards the end. Indian bowles through the debutant Harshal Patel(2/25) slammed the door for the visitors with Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin bowling tight spells as well. In reply, skipper Rohit Sharma(55) and his deputy KL Rahul(65) clobbered a 117 run opening stand to power the chase for the hosts getting to the target in 17.2 overs.
India having already sealed the series, might look to test their inexperienced bench by giving Ruturaj Gaikwad and the uncapped Avesh Khan a chance.
Gaikwad came into the series with an Orange Cap in the IPL and might get a look-in in the top-three where he is the most comfortable batting. In that case, either skipper Rohit Sharma or his deputy KL Rahul would have to take a rest for the game.
On the other hand, Avesh Khan can squeeze in place of either Deepak Chahar or Bhuvneshwar Kumar while leggie Yuzvendra Chahal can swap place with Axar Patel or Ravichandran Ashwin as well.
As for New Zealand, they would look for completing the assignment on a positive after a hectic schedule.
The tight fixtures means that a series defeat without the services of skipper Kane Williamson will tame the egos a bit but on a bigger picture the results of the bilaterals evidently count very little in the long run especially considering how the Kiwis have outplayed their opponents on the big tournaments in recent years.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vc), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Mohd Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan.
New Zealand squad: Tim Southee (captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert and Ish Sodhi.
