The visitors India have already secured the five-match T20I series against the hosts New Zealand as they have an unassailable lead of 3-0 with two matches to go. In the
In this T20I series, they played the first two matches at Eden Park (Auckland) and the third game at Seddon Park (Hamilton). India won the first two matches by six and seven wickets respectively. The third game ended in a tie, but the visitors finally won that in the one-over eliminator. In all these matches, the Indian team management had backed the same playing XI.
New Zealand and India will play the fourth match of this series on Friday (31st January) at Westpac Stadium (Wellington). As the visitors have already won this series, the team management can make some changes in the playing XI to test the bench strength.
Here are the three possible changes in India’s playing XI for the upcoming Wellington T20I.
Rishabh Pant replacing Shivam Dube:
In the last few limited-overs international matches, KL Rahul played the role of a wicketkeeper in a fine way. So, the team management didn’t select the specialised wicketkeeper for these matches, which brought an extra option to set the playing XI.
After receiving a blow on his helmet during the Mumbai ODI against Australia, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant hasn’t played a match yet.
Meanwhile, Shivam Dube hasn’t properly utilised his opportunities, especially in the last T20I where he was promoted to No.3 position but failed to impress.
So, there is a chance where we can see Rishabh Pant is returning to the playing XI as the replacement of Dube, especially when both are the left-handers.