India will square off against New Zealand in the fifth and final T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. The Kiwis registered a comprehensive 50-run win in the last T20I, which would have given them a lot of confidence after losing the first three games.

The visitors posted a par score of 215 runs on the board after Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell scored valuable knocks. Furthermore, Devon Conway’s return to runs was a positive for the Kiwis. The Blackcaps would have realised that they needed to put pressure on the Indian bowlers from the get-go, and they were able to execute their plans.

On the other hand, India played with a strange playing combination at Visakhapatnam, with six batters and five specialist bowlers. While the bowling unit could not hit the right areas, the batting was a major disappointment, barring Shivam Dube’s blitzkrieg knock.

There is no doubt that pressure is rising on Sanju Samson, who was dismissed after scoring 24 runs on Wednesday. Samson is playing like his feet are handcuffed, and he needs to turn a corner on Saturday to keep his place safe for the T20 World Cup.

Varun Chakravarthy is expected to return to the team’s playing XI after being rested in the last two games. Axar Patel could also get a game if he is declared fit by the medical team.

Head to Head: Matches: 29, Won by India: 17, Won by NZ: 11, Tied: 1.

New Zealand Squad: Devon Conway, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Lockie Ferguson, Zakary Foulkes, Bevon Jacobs

India Squad: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh