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1 Rohit Sharma (Captain)
It may be a coincidence that Rohit will be captaining India in his 200th India but for him it will be a huge motivation to better his performance. He has already scored back-to-back fifties in the 2nd and 3rd ODIs and he would like to reach that three-figure mark in this series. Of course, he will also be eager to keep India's winning momentum and close out the series 5-0, rather than give the Kiwis a chance to score some consolation wins.
2 Shikhar Dhawan
India wrapped up the ODI series with a win in the third one-dayer but Shikhar Dhawan, who had made fifies in the first two games, missed the party. The left-handed opener would like to restart his run-making ways on the morrow and the best option would be to rack up a hundred. Can he do it?
3 Shubman Gill
Virat Kohli will be cooling off after guiding India to a series win and this is chance for India to hand debut to Gill. Like Kohli, he is also an Under-19 World Cup winner and the captain recently spoke very highly of him. The Punjab batsman has impressive record too - 1089 runs from 9 first-class matches and 1529 runs from 36 List A games. He is in good form and this may be the right time to blood him.
4 A Rayudu
Kohli has hinted that the No 4 slot is still open ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019 and Rayudu would like to keep chipping in with useful contributions. Without being flashy, Rayudu has made significant contributions in all the three ODIs but he would like to get a bigger score soon to remain the primary choice for that position.
5 Dhoni/Karthik
MS Dhoni had missed the third ODI with a sore hamstring and it is not yet clear whether the veteran wicketkeeper batsman will play on the morrow, though he attended the net session on Wednesday (January 30). There may be a chance that Dhoni might be allowed that extra day to recuperate since the series has already won. If so, Karthik will continue to play and he has done nothing wrong in the third match either. He was tidy behind the stumps and made a match-winning unbeaten 38.
6 Kedar Jadhav
In the only match in which he got a chance to bat, Jadhav made an impact with a 10-ball 22. He has chipped in with couple of wickets as well. It should be enough for him keep that No 6 slot for the time being as India will also be not so keen to tinker too much with the line-up.
7 Hardik Pandya
Pandya returned to the side in the third ODI and made an immediate impact. He took a brilliant catch off Yuzvendra Chahal to dismiss New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and plucked two wickets as well. It was a timely reminder about the value Pandya adds to the team. He will be hoping to build on that.
8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Bhuvneshwar has done well with the new ball in this series so far. He has never allowed the NZ openers break free and often he picked up with wicket of Colin Munroe or Martin Guptill. He will be wanting to continue the good work.
9 Kuldeep Yadav
The chinaman bowler went wicketless in the third ODI (8-0-39-0) after picking up 8 wickets from first two matches, partly because Ross Taylor and Tom Latham countered him well. Kuldeep will be eager to fill that wicket column on Thursday.
10 Yuzvendra Chahal
He continued his wicket-taking ways in the third ODI as well. Though Ross Taylor and Tom Latham negated him on a slow pitch without much trouble, Chahal still managed to price out Kane Williamson, courtesy a flying catch by Pandya. The leggie will be eager to sustain his fine efforts in Hamilton as well.
11 Khaleel Ahmed
Mohammed Shami has been on the field since the Test series against Australia. It's time Shami gets some rest and since India have won the series this will be a good time to give him a breather. Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed could be given a chance to boost his confidence after couple of below-par efforts.
