The two undefeated teams of the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup-India and New Zealand- will face off at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Both teams have featured in some titanic encounters in the past and the crowds both at the venue and watching at home will hope for another classic encounter on Sunday.
Venue and pitch report
The HPCA stadium in Dharamsala provides an interesting context to this fixture. Among all venues at this ODI World Cup if there is one stadium that will pose more questions to batters at the start of an innings, it is this one which can assist paceman both in the afternoon and later in the evening.
There have been three matches of the ODI World Cup that have been played here so far and two of those have been day games while the day-night fixture saw Netherlands pull off a shock win over South Africa in a rain-curtailed encounter.
The team winning the toss might be forced to field first at Dharamshala, in the hope of utilising the early help on offer on the surface and considering a lack of clarity about a good score on this pitch.
Injury updates and probable Playing XIs
India suffered a massive blow during the match against Bangladesh when all-rounder Hardik Pandya sustained an ankle injury and was ruled out of this fixture.
Ishan Kishan was stung by a honey bee at practice on Saturday and Suryakumar Yadav, who looked the most likely player to replace Pandya in the playing XI, was hit on the forearm during the training session.
New Zealand will be without regular captain and batting mainstay Kane Williamson as he is still recovering from the fracture that he sustained to his left thumb in the match against Bangladesh. Stand-in captain Tom Latham confirmed that paceman Tim Southee will be available for the match.
Likely playing XIs: India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Matt Henry.
Players to watch out for
Batters-Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Tom Latham, Devon Conway.
All-rounders-Rachin Ravindra.
Bowlers-Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Trent Boult, Matt Henry.
India vs New Zealand: Head-to-head-record
New Zealand have not lost to India in an ICC ODI World Cup match since 2003 and 5-3 edge in the head-to-head record in all the completed matches. The last time the two teams met at a ODI World Cup, the Kiwis defeated the Men in Blue by 18 runs in the semifinal of the 2019 edition at Manchester.
Where to watch on TV?
Television viewers can watch the India vs Bangladesh on the Star Sports Network in India.
Where to watch online?
For those watching on other devices like a smart TV, laptops, and smartphones, the ODI World Cup 2023 will be streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar app.
For smartphone users of the app, the matches will be streamed for free while on other devices you will require a subscription for Disney+Hotstar.
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