MS Dhoni returns to the playing XI for India. (Source: File)Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni returned to India’s playing XI in the 5th ODI against New Zealand at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Sunday. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who missed the previous two matches due to an injury, replaced Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI.
Apart from Dhoni, India also made two more changes, with seamer Mohammed Shami, who was rested in the previous ODI, returning to the side in place of Khaleel Ahmed. The chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was also rested and allrounder Vijay Shankar was given a go in Wellington.
Skipper Rohit Sharma announced the change after the toss. “We have three changes. MS Dhoni for DK, Shami for Khaleel and Vijay Shankar for Kuldeep. We had a few training sessions and it’s not like the guys haven’t been in such situations earlier. If we had got about 180-200 last game, things would have been different,” he said.
“We admit we made mistakes and boys are determined. Important to assess conditions these days in the first 6-7 overs and take it on from there. If we bat well, we might get a good score,” he added.
India missed Dhoni’s calming influence in the middle in Hamilton in the previous ODI after Trent Boult rattled the top order. The right-handed batsman has been in top form in 2019, scoring 275 runs in 4 ODIs in Australia.
New Zealand also had to make a change due to injury. Martin Guptill, who suffered a back injury at the training on Saturday, was replaced by Colin Munro in the playing XI.
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal
New Zealand (Playing XI): Henry Nicholls, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Matt Henry, Trent Boult
