Virat Kohli & Co. is all set to play the 5th bilateral ODI series of the year 2017 against New Zealand. The first match is scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium on October 22. The team is already high on confidence after beating Australia by 4-1 recently and now it’s time to face the Kiwis once again on the Indian soil after a year. Opener Rohit Sharma had already declared that the team would like to begin from where they left against the Aussies. Also, the fans would like to see New Zealand in team India’s beat list which already contains the side like England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Australia. Indian would also like to get back the No. 1 Position in the ODI rankings which is currently owned by South Africa. For this, they need to win this series by 3-0 against the Kiwis.
The team management would find it difficult to finalize the playing XI as all the 15 men in the squad are fit and performing well. Here’s the InUth’s predicted Playing XI for the first ODI:
Opening pair – Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan
After missing the entire ODI series against Australia, Shikhar Dhawan is back in the squad and will be joining Rohit Sharma to open the Indian innings. Dhawan showcased a phenomenal batting performance against Sri Lanka and expected to continue his form against the Kiwis. Though Sharma and Dhawan couldn’t muster runs in the T2oI series, they must be eager to start it all freshly. Rohit also had a great season previously. Against Australia, he got a ton in Nagpur during the final ODI to seal the game. He was also the highest run-getter for India in the series.
“We want to continue the winning momentum from Australia series”, says Vice-captain @ImRo45 #TeamIndia #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/9xlPKxeo3s
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 20, 2017
Middle Order – Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey
Skipper Virat Kohli’s position is all set at number 3. However, the biggest question still lies with the number 4 position. Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey have been tried simultaneously but the accuracy of Hardik Pandya makes him the eligible contender for this position. Recollecting the stats from the recently concluded series against Australia, Pandya scored a total of 222 runs in 4 innings with a strike rate of 108+.
We are at the Wankhede Stadium and our preparations for the #INDvNZ have begun. pic.twitter.com/DoeBzcCXSc
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 20, 2017
Jadhav has been more stable at number 5 in the previous games. He scored 138 runs at a strike rate of 87.34 in the last series including a half-century. Next, comes Manish Pandey whose performance has been below average recently. Despite performing not so well, he is picked for this tournament and could be inducted at number 6 batting position.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni at number 7
With so many options till number 6, MS Dhoni’s placement may remain as it is, no 7. Unlike his old days, he is moreover an anchor in the batting line-up than a finisher. Putting Dhoni at number 7 helps India getting a good amount of runs in the death overs. However, if he gets promoted up the order, needless to say, how destructive he could be for the opposition.
When @msdhoni hits a big one at the Wankhede Stadium, it invariably takes us back to that famous six in 2011. pic.twitter.com/UGZkvpHWJJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 20, 2017
Tailenders- Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah
The Indian bowling department has turned more complicated than the batting. Reason being all the bowlers performing superbly, it turns out to be difficult at times for the skipper who to go forward with. Pacers have been amazing recently. Bhuvneshwar has gradually become the top performer with the new balls while Bumrah has mastered the art of playing tricks with the old.
The two young wrist spinners are at their peak. Both of them have almost made it difficult for Ashwin and Jadeja to get even named in the 15-man squad. Kuldeep took a hat-trick in Kolkata while Chahal was the antidote for Maxwell’s batting. Since the Kiwis have a poor track record against wrist spin, these two could cause a serious dent to the opposition batting.
Let’s also have a look at the New Zealand Predicted Playing XI
Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
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