Rohit Sharma-Less India Look To Continue Winning Momentum In NZ ODIs

India, after beating New Zealand 5-0 in the shortest format, will look to carry on the momentum in the three-match One-day International (ODI) series, which begins on February 5, but this time without the considerable presence of Rohit Sharma, who limped out of the 5th and final T20 International between the two teams on Sunday with a calf injury. It subsequently forced him out of the ODI series, as well as the Test series that follows with Mayank Agarwal named his replaced in the ODIs. However, a dominant India would still be favourites, even as the hosts would be aiming to start afresh and improve their performance and return to winning ways. However, the hosts\' bid to bounce back from the T20I series drubbing suffered a big blow with skipper Kane Williamson ruled out of the opening two matches.

Team physio Vijay Vallabh said Williamson was struggling to shrug off a shoulder injury that kept him out of the final two T20 fixtures.

He said Williamson would definitely miss the opening two ODIs but hoped to return for the third and final match of the series in Mount Maunganui next week.

\"Kane has had an X-ray scan which cleared him of anything serious, but it\'s best for his recovery that he avoids aggravating the joint for the next few days,\" he said.

Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja who didn\'t play in last two T20Is against New Zealand will most likely return to the playing XI.

Also, it will be interesting to see who among Yuzvendra Chahal or Kuldeep Yadav will be India\'s first-choice leg-spinner in the format.

In the last ODI series against Australia, Kuldeep played all three games with Chahal warming the bench, while Chahal featured in all five matches of the just-concluded T20I series.

The last time these two teams met in the 50-over format was in the semi-final of the World Cup 2019 and New Zealand had knocked India out of the competition.

Since then, India have won all the bilateral ODI series they have played and are high on confidence. In fact, in their last ODI series India came from behind to beat Australia 2-1 at home.

Also, India will derive a lot of confidence from their last tour when they defeated New Zealand 4-1 in the ODI series just before the World Cup 2019.

New Zealand skipper Williamson will be looking to change things this time around and challenge the strong Indian side.

However, just before the ODI series the hosts were handed a huge blow as their fast-bowling trio of Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry were all ruled out from all three fixtures.

Boult, Ferguson and Henry all suffered injuries in Australia and have not been able to recover on time which has left them with limited choices.

Boult is out due to broken hand, while Ferguson and Henry are out with calf strain and broken thumb respectively.

Tom Latham, who broke a finger on his right hand in the third Test against Australia, has been cleared to resume playing.

Kyle Jamieson has been called into the squad for the first time while Scott Kuggeleijn and Hamish Bennett are recalled after last playing ODIs in Ireland in 2017.

This will be New Zealand\'s first ODI match since the World Cup 2019 final where they lost to England on boundary count rule.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (wk), Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini

New Zealand: Tom Latham (capt and wk), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Blundell, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Hamish Bennett, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Mark Chapman

Match starts at 7.30am IST.