IndvsNZ: India can hope to return to the series by changing the way of playing in Powerplay

Hamilton. India will hope that skipper Shikhar Dhawan and youngster Shubman Gill take a better approach in the ‘powerplay’ overs when they take on New Zealand in the second do-or-die one-day international here on Sunday. Seddon Park is an open ground on all three sides but has a reputation as one of the most batsman-friendly grounds in New Zealand, providing batsmen with reasonable runs for their shots. In the first ODI, Dhawan (72 off 77 balls) and Gill (50 off 65 balls) shared a 123-run partnership for the first wicket, but a score of 306 for seven on a small ground like Eden Park required at least 40 runs. remained less than

 

The bowlers conceded these runs in just 47 overs, leaving the onus on the main batsmen as India would not have even reached the 300-run mark had it not been for Washington Sundar’s stupendous contribution. This was largely due to the cautious approach of the Indian openers in the first 10 powerplay overs which did not yield the required runs. Moeen Ali recently said in an interview that the teams which earlier used to follow Australia’s style of white-ball cricket are now looking towards England who have done exceptionally well in this format in recent times. The Indian team is lagging behind in this and in Auckland the team could score only 40 runs in the first powerplay over.

 

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 scored 72 runs in 77 balls in which 13 fours were hit. With which he added 52 runs in 13 balls with fours. Whereas for the remaining 20 runs, he played 64 balls and out of this 44 were ‘dot’ balls as he was unable 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 were scored in four balls. He scored the remaining 28 runs in 61 balls.

It was this attitude of leaving the task of building the foundation of the innings and scoring quick runs towards the end that India lost the T20 World Cup but surprisingly the batting approach remained the same despite the change of players in ODIs for this series Has happened. With so many players struggling to open the innings, it is vitally important that players score runs quickly so that three or four months before the 50-over World Cup, the new selectors trim the pool down to around 20. cannot be ignored. 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 as Rohit will return as opener.

 

KL Rahul can replace Suryakumar Yadav (rested for the next series) in the middle order. Rishabh Pant’s strike rate and average are much better in ODIs than in T20 Internationals but the vice-captain needs to be more consistent in this series to stay ahead of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan for wicketkeeping who will definitely be in their best shape. are close. 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. Umran Malik was effective bowling at 145 kmph, Arshdeep Singh got swingDespite the ability to do, he was seen struggling and Shardul Thakur could not do well either.

The toss will also play an important role as it becomes easier to bat at Seddon Park in the evening. 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.

 

The squads are as follows: 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, Devin Conway, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson. The match will start at seven in the morning Indian time.