New Zealand eye historic series win in India

India's home dominance has faced recent challenges. South Africa pushed them closely in ODIs and T20Is earlier, and now New Zealand has leveled the ongoing ODI series 1-1, forcing a decisive third match in Indore.

Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate addressed the close contests: "We're trying to experiment… But we're absolutely not saying it's okay to lose. They sit a little bit more right than the Test match losses. We're always trying to win every game while managing the medium to long-term prospects of the team."

New Zealand's second-string side has outperformed India comprehensively, excelling in batting, bowling, fielding, and strategy. Their unheralded spinners, including debutant Jayden Lennox, outperformed India's Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

The series decider will be in Indore, where India has a perfect ODI record of seven wins at the Holkar Stadium. The venue's small boundaries traditionally favor high scores.

Team News:
India may bring in Arshdeep Singh for Prasidh Krishna. Ravindra Jadeja, under pressure from Axar Patel, seeks to reaffirm his bowling form. Nitish Reddy's place remains under scrutiny.

New Zealand, missing key players like Kane Williamson, stands on the brink of a historic first ODI series win in India. Key performers include Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, and debutant spinner Jayden Lennox.

Match Details:

• When: Sunday, January 18, 2026, 1:30 PM local time
• Where: Holkar Stadium, Indore
• Conditions: A batter-friendly pitch with small boundaries is expected.

Probable XIs:

• India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.
• New Zealand: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay (wk), Michael Bracewell (c), Zakary Foulkes, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Lennox.

Key Statistics:

• New Zealand has never won an ODI bilateral series in India (0 wins in 7 attempts).
• New Zealand has the best middle-overs (11-40) batting performance against spin among full-member teams this World Cup cycle.
• India has the joint-lowest death-overs (41-50) run rate post-2023 World Cup, alongside Sri Lanka.
• Virat Kohli has increased his early-innings strike rate to 104.0 since the South Africa series, up from 60.71 previously.

Quote:
"The atmosphere is very good… it feels like a high-pressure situation, almost like a World Cup final. Such situations are very rare in India, so it is a great opportunity for us." — Mohammed Siraj on the decider.