Men in Blue eye winning start

Kohli, Rohit take centre stage as hosts take on a new-look Kiwis in the first match of the three-match series

- PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's prime form is expected to drive India's progress in ODIs as the full-strength hosts take on a new-look New Zealand in the first match of the three-match series here Sunday.

Even as focus remains on the T20 World Cup which is less than a month away, Kohli and Rohit will hog the limelight in the three ODIs over the next seven days.

There has been no dearth of game-time for the two superstars who played a couple of matches each in the Vijay Hazare Trophy’s league round, piling up big runs to underline that they are not going away anytime soon.

But it remains to be seen how India captain Shubman Gill responds after being axed from the T20 World Cup side, with his form being a concern apart from the injuries that kept him out of the majority of the series against South Africa late last year.

Gill's return, however, is likely to take Yashasvi Jaiswal out of the top order where he scored his maiden ODI ton in the last match against South Africa. The return of Shreyas Iyer should end a largely unsuccessful run of experiments in the batting order, with the 31-year-old set to claim his No 4 spot back.