Rohit Sharma

After winning the toss, Rohit said fast-bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur along with left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan come into the playing eleven. The trio come in place of an injured Shreyas Iyer as well as KL Rahul and Axar Patel not available due to personal reasons.

"In terms of Ishan, yeah, he will be batting middle order. I'm glad he could get a run here after that fine knock in Bangladesh," Rohit said in the pre-game press conference before the first ODI against New Zealand. Kishan scored a double century opening the batting in his last ODI against Bangladesh, but had to sit out the more recent ODI series against Sri Lanka.

On a slow yet placid pitch at the Greenfield International Stadium, Kohli was off the blocks quickly, and anchored the innings for a large part to be unbeaten on 166 not out off 110 balls, his tenth hundred against Sri Lanka. In his third century in last four ODI innings, Kohli hit 13 fours and eight sixes, feasting on a hapless bowling attack.

After winning the toss, Rohit said India have brought in off-spin all-rounder Washington Sundar and in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav in place of rested duo of Hardik Pandya and Umran Malik, which means India have three frontline spinners and two fast-bowling options.

But Rahul stood tall in an under-pressure situation to slam a gutsy unbeaten 64 off 103 balls and take India over the line for an unassailable 2-0 series lead. He stitched a crucial 75-run partnership off 119 balls with Hardik Pandya, before putting stands of 30 and 28 not out with Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav for hunting down the total with 40 balls to spare.

Shanaka, batting on 98 in the final over, had gone too far out the crease at the non-striker's end and pacer Mohammad Shami wohipped off the bails and appealed for run-out. However, Rohit Sharma withdrew the appeal, which allowed Shanaka to complete his century and end the match at 108 not out as Sri Lana, chasing a massive total of 373/7 by India were restricted to 306/8 in 50 overs and lost the match by 67 runs on Tuesday night.

Then Virat Kohli smacked his second consecutive and overall 45th ODI century, 113 off 87 balls, making the most out of two reprieves while hitting 12 fours and a six for India to make an improbable 373/7. In reply, Sri Lanka made 306/8, with captain Dasun Shanaka's 88-ball 102 coming too late after opener Pathum Nissanka made 72 off 80 balls.

Rohit is set to make his return to competitive cricket through the first ODI against Sri Lanka at Guwahati on Tuesday, after sustaining a left thumb injury during the second ODI against Bangladesh on December 7. That injury made him unavailable for the third ODI, Tests against Bangladesh as well as the T20I series at home against Sri Lanka. In his absence, Pandya led India to a 2-1 series victory earlier this month

Eventually, Mumbai got him in and since then, Rohit has been their talismanic batter who has captained them to five IPL triumphs (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020) and two trophies in the now-defunct Champions League T20 (2011 and 2013). "I can't believe it's been 12 years at Mumbai Indians. It has been an extremely exciting and emotional journey for me. We've achieved so much together with stalwarts, youngsters and our Paltan."

While Kohli was a member of the 2011 squad which won the World Cup on home soil, Rohit didn't feature in that tournament and was the leading run-getter in the 2019 ODI World Cup. Both Kohli and Rohit will be seen in 50-over action during India's upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka, starting from January 10 in Guwahati.