Team India must win the third and final T20I match against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad with the series currently level at 1-1. One major area of concern is India’s opening batters with Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan failing to fire at the top of the order. Gill was the man in form, with 360 runs in three-match ODI series against New Zealand including a double century.

But the Punjab opener has struggled to get going in the T20I series so far. His opening partner Ishan Kishan has also disappointed but India need the Jharkhand and Mumbai Indian wicketkeeper behind the stumps in the absence of Rishabh Pant. It will be interesting to see if skipper Hardik Pandya will give an opportunity to Prithvi Shaw to return to the Indian Playing XI at the expense of Gill.

Shaw has been in sensational form in domestic cricket and has forced his way into international reckoning but Gill and Kishan have kept him out. Another change India will be looking at will be in their bowling attack.

Finale Ready __ _@GCAMotera | #TeamIndia | #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/jXhfMu24LK

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2023

The under-prepared surface in Lucknow meant that Team India went with an extra spinner into the contest. However, on a docile track at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Umran Malik may replace Yuzvendra Chahal with Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar doing the spinner’s duties.

New Zealand have a settled line-up and are unlikely to make many changes for the deciding T20I match on Wednesday (February 1).

India: Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner