'Men in Blue' will look to close the series on a high after already taking a 4-0 lead in the series on the back of two wins in Super Overs at Hamilton and Wellington. Both the teams are taking to the field without their seasoned skippers.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first against the Black Caps in the 5th T2OI at Bay Oval. Rohit comes in place of Virat Kohli who has been rested for the final encounter.
New Zealand will look for nothing but a win to salvage some pride in front of their home fans after two heartbreaks in the last two games.
Rohit Sharma: We'll bat first. It looks like a good pitch and that's what we want to challenge our team as well to defend totals. The combination we played in the last game was very good and we want to continue with that as well. We want to continue the momentum and it is not everyday that we get a chance to make it 5-0. We have to avoid being complacent; by no means are New Zealand not a good team. Just the one change - I come in for Virat and Sanju will open. I will bat at three.
Tim Southee: It looks like a good surface. Kane was a late change, he still felt a bit of discomfort and hopefully he'll be fit for the one-dayers. We want to go back to doing what we do well and the results will take care of themselves. We're playing the same team.
Pitch report: "It's a good surface normall. Average score batting first is 183. Looks a hard surface with an event covering of grass. Dimension-wise, it's a pretty big ground as well. The wind will be a major factor too, as hitting against it won't be easy at all. Batting first have won five of the six games here." reckon Mike Hesson and Deep Dasgupta.
Playing Eleven
India (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Sanju Samson, Rohit Sharma(c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert(w), Ross Taylor, Tom Bruce, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee(c), Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett