WATCH: Mohammed Shami takes wicket on his first ball vs New Zealand in ODI World Cup 2023

The Indian team made two changes to their fifth game of the ODI World Cup 2023 game versus New Zealand. Mohammad Shami made his long-awaited return to the playing XI in place of the struggling Shardul Thakur.

Suryakumar Yadav meanwhile came in for Hardik Pandya who was injured in the last game. The 30-year-old Indian all-rounder had hurt his ankle while trying to stop the ball on his follow-through versus Bangladesh in Pune.

New Zealand was asked to bat first after Rohit Sharma won the toss in Dharamshala. The Kiwis went in with the same team that played against Afghanistan in Chennai. Tim Southee wasn’t included in the XI despite being passed fit after a long injury layoff.

Mohammed Shami makes an immediate impact –

Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj began the proceedings with the new ball for India on Sunday. Rohit Sharma summoned Mohammed Shami to replace Jasprit Bumrah after the right-arm pacer had bowled four overs.

The 33-year-old took no time in making an immediate impact when he got the wicket of Will Young. Shami bowled a teasing warm-up delivery which was going away from the batter. Will Young though struck his bat out and got a huge inside edge onto his stumps to be bowled out for 17.

The Indian team ran in the direction of the bowler as Mohammad Shami got India its second wicket of the day. Many fans were wondering why Shami wasn’t given a game despite Shardul Thakur’s bad form. In the previous three games that Thakur had played the 32-year-old had picked just two wickets.

India and New Zealand are currently in the middle of a top-of-the-table clash in Dharamshala. New Zealand has 8 points from four games and is at the top spot in the table. The Indians are in the second spot after having won all their four games in the ODI World Cup 2023 tournament.

A win on Sunday will more or less confirm a place in the final four stages of the tournament for either of the teams. The last time the two teams met in the World Cup was in Manchester where the Kiwis won by 18 runs. This is also the tenth time the two teams are meeting in the World Cup.