MIDDLE-ORDER CONCERNS WEIGH ON WEARY NZ
At the start of the series, India had eight ODIs - five against New Zealand and three against England - to get their combination right before the Champions Trophy next year. Of equally high priority was the need to strengthen their limitedovers game - aside from whitewashing Zimbabwe twice, India haven’t won a bilateral series since November 2014.
India have the opportunity to accomplish both objectives against a weary New Zealand, who have been away from home for more than a month and are desperate for success in at least one leg of the tour. The visitors, however, are yet to repair a flimsy middle order, which has squandered good starts in all three ODIs so far. Corey Anderson’s comeback has yielded only 31 runs, while Luke Ronchi, who counterattacked admirably in the Tests, averages a mere 2.33. India’s team management, on the other hand, will be happy with what they have achieved. For one, the bowling unit has exceeded expectations. While Jasprit Bumrah has been reliable as ever, Umesh Yadav has improved his accuracy without sacrificing pace. Amit Mishra has enjoyed leading a young spin attack, and along with Axar Patel, whose wicket tally has not been commensurate with his persistence, he has ensured India have not missed R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
The biggest revelations, though, have been Hardik Pandya’s ability with the new ball and part-timer Kedar Jadhav’s knack for breaking partnerships. With Virat Kohli casually gunning down chases, the rest of the batting has been tested only once, in Delhi, when no one made good on their start. India will hope the likes of Manish Pandey and Jadhav get to spend more time in the middle in the next two ODIs. The selectors have stressed on continuity by retaining the same squad - minus Suresh Raina, who is still recovering from illness for the remaining two games. While India will want to give the players on the bench Mandeep Singh, Jayant Yadav and Dhawal Kulkarni - an opportunity at some point over the next two games, they will also seek to ensure some of the newer players who are already in the XI get an extended run. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: In the absence of the injured Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul, this was Ajinkya Rahane’s best chance to show why he deserved to open in ODIs ahead of them. But, Rahane failed to convert two starts before being dismissed in the third over in Mohali. Time may be running out for him, with the team management also probably keen to have a look at the uncapped Mandeep Singh in the opening slot.
Ross Taylor has been in the news both on and off the field in the last few days. In Mohali, he took an encouraging step forward as a batsman before Mishra’s drift and turn ended his resilience. In the chase, though, Taylor dropped Kohli on 6, only to see him add another 148 to his score and steer India to victory. On-field challenges aside, Taylor will also have to block out the noise accompanying Brendon McCullum’s stormy remarks about his captaincy tenure.