Rohit Sharma declared fit to play in third ODI against New Zealand 1

The Indian team will heave a sigh of relief after their star opener Rohit Sharma is declared fit to play the third One-Day International match of the five-match series against New Zealand.

The right-handed batsman seemed to injure his bicep during the second match against the Kiwis. Trying to drive a back of a length delivery from Trent Boult, Sharma edged the ball to the wicketkeeper and immediately clutched his bicep, looking in extreme pain. He was checked by the physio soon after and there were apprehensions over his availability in the third match.

With regular openers Shikhar Dhawan already out of the squad due to injury and KL Rahul also not in the squad, Rohit’s unavailability would have made matters worse for MS Dhoni’s men who will be looking to bounce back in the third match after losing the second match by 6 runs.

Rohit, who has been one of India’s top performers in the limited-overs cricket in the last couple of years, has struggled to get going in the series so far. After scoring 14 in the first match, he could score only 15 in the last match. With the team under pressure, he will surely look to contribute more.

The official Tweeter account of the BCCI confirmed Rohit’s availability for the match by tweeting:

A collective batting failure saw India losing against the Kiwis in an ODI match for the first time in India after 2003. Chasing a fairly easy target of 242, the hosts kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and never got the momentum in the chase.

Meanwhile, Suresh Raina, who missed the first two matches due to a viral fever, has been ruled out of the third match too after failing to recover from the fever. Raina’s absence means India is expected to retain the same team that took to the field in the first two matches.