India will take on New Zealand in the all-important decider of the ongoing three-match ODI series at Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on Sunday, October 29.
Virat Kohli's Team India was ruthless in ODIs following their Champions Trophy final defeat as it went on to crush West Indies and Sri Lanka on the road, before making light work of world champions Australia at home last month.
Also read: Playing XIs for 3rd ODI & pitch conditions in Kanpur
However, for the first time in the ongoing year, the "Men in Blue" have been put under pressure as the visiting New Zealand team struck the first blow in the three-match rubber by winning the Mumbai ODI last Sunday.
India managed to make a strong comeback in Pune on Wednesday, but the hosts head into the third ODI with the pressure of a must-win game.
Notably, India have never lost an ODI series to New Zealand at home. Then again, Kane Williamson's men pushed India to the limits last year as well by forcing a decider in a five-match series. Tvisitors were eventually blown away by an Amit Mishra five-for in Nagpur in the final ODI.
Kohli's men will head into the match with a lot of confidence after having completely outplayed New Zealand in the second ODI.
While Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah were on top of their game, Dinesh Karthik, who seems to be the answer to India's middle order woes, helped India gun down an under-par total of 231 in Pune.
All eyes will be on Bhuvneshwar as the cold weather in Kanpur is likely to assist swing bowlers.
Kohli and Co also need to be wary of New Zealand's new-ball bowling duo of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who are wonderful exponents of swing.
However, with reportedly no grass on it, the Green Park surface is expected to slow down after the initial overs.
The home side, who have a solid batting line-up, are favourites to exploit such conditions, but Williamson's men showed in the first ODI that they are ready to adapt.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The third ODI between India and New Zealand will start at 1:30 pm IST, 8 am GMT.
Live streaming and TV coverage
India: TV: Star Sports. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
New Zealand: Sky Sport 1. Live streaming: Sky GO
UK: TV: Sky Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
Squads
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, George Worker, Ish Sodhi.
