New Zealand just got comprehensively beaten at home by a strong Indian team. They lost all 5 T20 games and suffered an embarrassing series whitewash in front of their fans. When you perform so poorly, it can bring down team morale. But the Kiwis don’t have a lot of time to mop and mourn.
India Betting Favourites For ODI series
The Kiwis go in as betting underdogs in the three match ODI series. They have odds of 2.82 to India’s 1.41. The first ODI takes place on at Hamilton on Feb 5, the second ODI takes place in Auckland on Feb 8 and the final ODI takes place at Mount Maunganui on Feb 11.
The Kiwis will be short on confidence as a number of players from the T20 squad will feature in the ODI series. They need to win and take a 1-0 series lead in order to arrest the momentum from India.
If the Kiwis end up losing the first ODI, they are going to find it all the more difficult to win the second ODI and square the series as the pressure will keep mounting on the team as each failure in front of their fans is highly disappointing.
Experienced New Zealand Players Must Perform
One of the biggest problems for New Zealand is their opening batsmen. M Guptill on his day is one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world. But the problem for Guptill is his lack of consistency. The Kiwis used C Munro to open with Guptill in the T20 series and both of them showed a lack of consistency. There is no established opener to partner Guptill in the ODI series. This means the Kiwis could experiment and see if they can find a new opener.
The absence of T Boult, L Ferguson and M Henry in the ODI format will also trouble the Kiwis as T Southee has not had a great time with the ball during the T20 series. If the Kiwis don’t bowl well, they will struggle to keep a powerful Indian batting line up within check and could be confronted with massive totals.
The experienced batsmen in the side will have to step up and take some of the pressure off captain K Williamson and R Taylor. The likes of J Neesham, H Nicholls and T Latham will have anchor the middle order. The Kiwis try to pack their ODI squad with as many all-rounders as possible. It will be important for C de Grandhomme, M Santner and Neesham to deliver with both bat and ball.
Chance For Youngsters To Shine in New Zealand
The Indian team will be on a massive high after their 5-0 overseas victory. They will be brimming with confidence and this will be great for the young players in the squad. With Sharma sustaining a calf injury in the final T20, it is likely that he will miss the first ODI.
This gives the selectors a chance to test out P Shaw who is in the ODI squad. Or they may want to experiment and push R Pant to open with KL Rahul. The fast bowling unit continues to be strong with J Bumrah, N Saini, M Shami and S Thakur while R Jadeja, K Yadav and Y Chahal will take care of the spin department. S Dube will want to redeem himself in the ODI series as he has had a poor T20 series.
