New Zealand captain Kane Williamson decided to put India in after winning the toss in the 4th ODI at Hamilton. Having already lost the series 3-0, the hosts have nothing but pride left in the remaining two matches.
India, for their part, have decided to use this opportunity to test their bench strength. Virat Kohli's absence has opened the doors for 19-year-old Shubman Gill. The Punjab right-hander makes his ODI debut and will bat at No. 3. The most impressive fast bowler of the series Mohammed Shami has been given a rest. He has been replaced by left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed.
"Gill has shown a lot of promise, he has played here and was the Man of the Series in the U-19 World Cup. Highly rated and we wanted to see what he could offer to the team. We would have batted first anyway, the motivation is high and it's important to give your best when you wear the India colours," said India's stand-in captain Rohit Sharma, who is turning up for his 200th ODI.
The big news though is the fitness of MS Dhoni. The former captain is yet to regain his fitness, meaning Dinesh Karthik holds onto his position in the playing XI.
New Zealand on the other hand, have made as many four changes to their team that played in the last ODI at Mount Maunganui.
Colin Munro and Lockie Ferguson miss out, while Ish Sodhi and Doug Bracewell were left out from the squad. Colin de Grandhomme and Matt Henry feature in the playing XI along with James Neesham and Todd Astle - who were called into the squad. Tim Southee remains on the sidelines.
"We will bowl first. Looks like a good surface, hopefully, some dew will come later. The stats suggest it's a chasing ground, we need to take some early wickets," said Kane Williamson.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Colin de Grandhomme, Todd Astle, Matt Henry, Trent Boult
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik(w), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, K Khaleel Ahmed