India wins toss and opts to bowl against New Zealand in series-deciding third ODI

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India's captain Shubman Gill tosses the coin as New Zealand's captain Michael Bracewell, right, looks on before the start of the third One Day International cricket match between India and New Zealand in Indore, India, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

India's Virat Kohli, right, chats with captain Shubman Gill before the start of the third One Day International cricket match between India and New Zealand in Indore, India, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) — India's captain Shubman Gill tosses the coin as New Zealand's captain Michael Bracewell, right, looks on before the start of the third One Day International cricket match between India and New Zealand in Indore, India, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

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2:57 AM on Sunday, January 18

The Associated Press

INDORE, India (AP) — India captain Shubman Gill won the coin toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand in the third and final one-day cricket international on Sunday.

India won the first ODI in Vadodara by four wickets before New Zealand leveled the three-match series with a seven-wicket victory at Rajkot on Wednesday.

India has made one change with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh coming into the side for Prasidh Krishna.

New Zealand has fielded an unchanged side.

The Black Caps are hoping to win its first ODI bilateral series on Indian soil. The visitors have previously lost all seven encounters here against India.

The pitch at the Holkar Stadium is perfect for batting and a tall score should be in order. Evening dew and short boundaries should favor the chasing side.

Meanwhile, batter Shreyas Iyer and wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi have been added to India’s Twenty20 squad for the ensuing five-match series starting Jan. 21 in Nagpur. They come in for the injured Tilak Verma and Washington Sundar, respectively.

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Lineups:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (captain), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay, Michael Bracewell (captain), Zakary Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Kristian Clarke, Jayden Lennox

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket