India and New Zealand will meet in the third ODI and the last game of this limited-overs matches tour. The series stands 1-0 in favor of New Zealand who won the first ODI, before the second ODI was washed out with little play. The third ODI of the series will be played on Wednesday at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
With the Indian senior players rested for this tour, it was a tour of opportunities for the players. However, for one – Sanju Samson – this hasn’t been a productive tour so far.
Samson didn’t get to feature in the T20I series. He played in the first ODI, scored 36 runs in 38 balls, and was dropped in the second ODI for Deepak Hooda as India wanted to have an extra bowling option – though a part-time one – after a poor performance from their bowlers in the first ODI where they failed to breach the partnership between Kane Williamson and Tom Latham.
There were only 12.5 overs of play possible in the second ODI, so it seems unlikely that India will make changes to their XI to bring Samson back in for Hooda, although they might rest one of Shreyas Iyer or Suryakumar Yadav from the last match of the tour to give a chance to Samson.
A day out from the 3rd ODI, the Indian player sweated it out in the sunshine of Christchurch. The players trained hard for the must-win game.
Sanju Samson got tips from VVS Laxman about one shot
Senior journalist Vimal Kumar, who is at the venue, posted a video of India’s training session where the head coach for the tour, VVS Laxman, engaged in a lengthy conversation with Sanju Samson, giving the batsman some tips about a particular shot.
You can watch the video here: