IND vs NZ 2nd ODI: ‘Do or Die’ battle for Team India, Kiwi team will be eyeing to win the series

IND vs NZ 2nd ODI: The Indian team will play the second match of the three-match series against New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday. After losing the first match by 7 wickets, it will be a battle of ‘do or die’ for Team India. This time the team will again have hope from the opening pair of captain Shikhar Dhawan and young Shubman Gill. After sharing a 124-run partnership in the first match, it remains to be seen what the pair does on the open ground from all three sides of Seddon Park.

The bowlers lost these runs in just 47 overs and only three wickets fell for the Kiwi team

This ground in Hamilton is one of the most helpful grounds for batsmen in New Zealand. The ground dimension and pitch here are both helpful to the batsmen. Playing first on a small ground like Eden Park, India’s score of 306 for seven fell short by about 40 runs. The bowlers lost these runs in just 47 overs and only three wickets fell for the Kiwi team. Due to which the responsibility again falls on the main batsmen because if Washington Sundar had not made a great contribution, then India would not have reached the figure of 300 runs. This was largely due to the extremely slow batting of Dhawan and Gill in the first powerplay.

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Here the runs were not scored according to the ground. The Indian team is constantly lagging behind in terms of attacking in the initial overs. Be it T20 or ODI, he has shown the same in both the formats. In Auckland, the team trailed by at least 40 runs in 10 overs of the first powerplay. Another statistic reveals the attitude of the Indian top-order batsmen in limited-overs formats (not just Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul or Virat Kohli). Dhawan and Gill played a lot of dot balls in the initial overs.

This attitude is not changing…

Dhawan scored 72 off 77 balls which was studded with 13 fours. With which he added 52 runs in 13 balls with fours. While he played 64 balls for the remaining 20 runs and out of this 44 were ‘dot’ balls as he was not able to score runs in the powerplay. While the captain struggled on the one hand, Gill did not harm his overall average by scoring another half-century but the pace of his innings is also a matter of debate. He scored 50 runs in 65 balls which included three sixes and a four. Means 22 runs scored in four balls. He scored the remaining 28 runs in 61 balls.

India lost the T20 World Cup due to this attitude of preparing the foundation of the innings and leaving the work of scoring fast runs towards the end, but surprisingly, instead of change in this series, the attitude has remained the same.

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Let us tell you that nowadays there is a lot of competition in the Indian team. With so many players struggling just to open the innings, it is extremely important that the players score quick runs so that the new style is seen three or four months before the 50-over World Cup. Dhawan will certainly open with Rohit in Bangladesh next month and there is no guarantee that Shubman will retain his place in the playing XI. Because Rohit will return as an opener. KL Rahul can replace Suryakumar Yadav (if rested for the next series) in the middle order.

Sword hanging on Rishabh Pant!

Rishabh Pant’s strike rate and average is much better in ODIs as compared to T20 Internationals but the vice-captain needs to be more consistent in this series. His bat is constantly silent and as a wicket-keeper batsman, he is also getting a tough fight with Sanju Samson and Ishaan Kishan. Indian fast bowlers have bowled very little on the Eden Park pitch. He needs to find a way to compete with Tom Latham and Kane Williamson. Both these players have been very consistent against India in this format.

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Focus will have to be on bowling, toss will also be important

Umran Malik was impressive bowling at 145 kmph, Arshdeep Singh struggled despite his ability to get swing. Shardul Thakur also could not perform well. The toss will also play an important role as it becomes easier to bat at Seddon Park as the evening progresses. If the Indian team chases the target, it will be good for them as the spinners will not face the problem of dew in the evening. It has to be seen whether Kuldeep Yadav is tried in place of Yuzvendra Chahal or not. Along with this, there will also be an eye on the sixth bowling option.

Squads of both the teams

India: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Shahbaz Ahmed, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Shardul Thakur and Umran Malik.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson.