The series is in the bag, but after the meltdown in the fourth ODI in Hamilton, there are a few questions to address for Rohit Sharma and his side as they prepare to take on New Zealand in the final ODI in Wellington.
As has been the case over the past couple of years, the base of an Indian ODI win needs to be set by the top order and in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma needs to stand up and make his presence felt.
Also, there is an incentive for Rohit to go for the full monty in this match. He needs one more century to overtake former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly and become the batsman with the third most number of centuries in ODI cricket. Sachin Tendulkar leads this pack with 49 centuries followed by Virat Kohli who has 39 centuries.
Rohit Sharma can script record
He missed out in Hamilton, but Rohit Sharma's batting average as a captain in ODIs is 90.16 and has the opportunity to become the first Indian captain to score a century on New Zealand soil.
When Virat Kohli is not the batting lineup, India's batting average drops by 27.50 per cent to 35.34 compared to when Kohli is in the line-up (48.75). In the bowling department, the wrist spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been instrumental in India's march over the last 18 months.
Post-ICC Champions trophy 2017, the Indian spinners have taken almost double the wickets compared to the span after World Cup 2015 to Champions Trophy 2017. The Indian spinners have taken 200 wickets since January 1 2017, which is the most by any team in this duration.
What bodes well for India, the Indian spinners have recently picked up 100 wickets playing together. Out of their 101 wickets, 60 have come in away conditions which is great news for India as they approach the World Cup 2019.
Wellington has been a high-scoring venue as the average score over the 10 matches is 287, and the team batting first has won 6 out of the last 10 ODIs played at this venue, which might tempt captains to bat first after winning the toss.
