Defending champions India take on New Zealand in their first warm-up match of 2017 Champions Trophy at Kennington Oval on Sunday.
India, who were the last team to arrive in England, will be focussing on getting the team combination right after what had been a hectic Twenty20 season for most of thier players. On the other hand, Kane Williamson's men will be looking to get back to winning ways after suffering a five-wicket loss to resurgent Bangladesh in the final ODI of the recently-concluded tri-series in Ireland.
While India's batting unit looks solid on paper, quite a few of their big stars, including Virat Kohli, who had a dismal run in the Test series at home against Australia, will want to use the tune-up games to hit peak form. The focus will also be on fit-again Rohit Sharma and comeback man Shikhar Dhawan as they were key to India's success in the last edition. Having veterans MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, who are in the twilight of their careers, will be a big boost to the team.
Kohli has a problem of plenty in the fast-bowling department despite not having last edition's star Ishant Sharma in the squad. All-rounder Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah might be automatic choice, while Umesh Yadav, who impressed in India's home season, Mohammad Shami and IPL star Bhuvneshwar Kumar will battle for the remaining spots, which is set to vary according to the conditions.
On the other hand, New Zealand will welcome skipper Williamson, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell McClenaghan as they were not part of the Ireland tri-series due to IPL commitments. With a power-packed line-up, the Black Caps will be hoping to test their might and give a stiff fight to the tournament favourites on the Oval track, which produced a high-scoring encounter between Australia and Sri Lanka on Friday.
Team News
India
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajinkya Rahane
New Zealand
Squad: Kane Williamson (c), Luke Ronchi (wk), Ross Taylor, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Jeetan Patel, James Neesham, Adam Milne, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Corey Anderson
