Team News:
India:
Suresh Raina isn't part of the travelling contingent and will miss out again. That provides another opportunity for those in the middle of the Indian innings - Manish Pandey, Axar Patel - to stack some runs against their names before the squad for the final two games are announced. Rohit Sharma suffered a bout of cramps to his left bicep in the last game but appeared in no particular discomfort in the nets. Should the need arise, India have Mandeep Singh waiting in the wings. Dhawal Kulkarni and Jayant Yadav, who may have played if India had won in Delhi, will have to wait a while for their turn, with victory in the game assuming more importance than future building.
New Zealand:
Taylor's predispositions against spin have been particularly glaring on the tour, a fact not lost on him as he opted to exclusively dedicate his pre-match session under the watchful eye of Craig McMillan in one of the special side nets. The batting coach instructed Taylor to play down the ground with one-hand, in order to remove the bottom hand influence that has been forcing him to go hard at the ball.
Anton Devcich had an excellent outing with the ball in New Delhi but with the traditional bouncy nature of the Mohali surface, he could make way for the seam-bowling option of James Neesham - who was put through the paces in a rigorous net session on the eve of the match. Going by his increasing workload in the nets, New Zealand see a part-timer's role for Martin Guptill, who snared two wickets late in the second one-dayer and will want to use him more when the need for spin arises.