Ishan Kishan will bat in the middle order, Indian captain Rohit Sharma announced before of his team's first ODI match against New Zealand in Hyderabad. On Wednesday, India and New Zealand will play the opener of a three-match series in Hyderabad.
"Ishan Kishan will be batting in the middle order. I am glad that he is getting this run after that fine knock (double century) against Bangladesh," said Rohit in a pre-match press conference.
_ Sound _#TeamIndia captain @ImRo45 gets into the groove ahead of the #INDvNZ ODI series opener _ _ pic.twitter.com/NR6DaK56mg
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 17, 2023
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The move to shift Ishan, an opener, to the middle order comes after middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the ODI series.
He was ruled out due to a back injury, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday.
"He will be heading to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for further assessment and management. The All-India Senior Selection Committee has named Rajat Patidar as a replacement for Shreyas Iyer," BCCI said in an official statement.
The skipper said that the series would be challenging for his side, since New Zealand is a quality side and is coming to India after an ODI series win over Pakistan.
"Going into the series, it is pretty simple for us, try to keep improving as a team and fine-tune everything that is in front of us in terms of our batting, bowling and fielding. Great opposition and a great opportunity for us to achieve what we want to achieve as a team. New Zealand is coming off a series win in Pakistan, they are playing some good cricket. It will be challenging for us to execute what we want to execute," said Rohit.
Rohit said that his side wants to continue from where they left off in the series against Sri Lanka.
"It is not too important to look at the opposition, but to do well as a team and play the way we want to. The last series was a perfect example of that. We played some fearless cricket. We do not want to overcomplicate things and see what other teams can do to us," added Rohit.
The New Zealand home series will feature three T20Is and three ODIs. India will begin the series with the 50-over matches starting January 18.
The T20 series will commence on January 27 and end on February 1.
India's updated ODI squad against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj and Umran Malik.
