With another comprehensive win at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand clean swept the ODI series 3-0. It was quite a turnaround after losing 0-5 in the T20 series. Let’s look back at what went wrong for one of the strongest teams in the world- Team India.
1. Lack of firepower from big guns?:
Lone fifty by Virat Kohli and wicketless Bumrah in the series! When the last time did you see such numbers?
Over the last 4 years, these two have led India everywhere in their respective department. And without Rohit Sharma & Shikhar Dhawan, the onus was more on Virat Kohli to carry India’s innings but he failed to do so. It’s the 3rd consecutive series in which he failed to score a century. 75 max runs in a series is not a Kohli thing.
Ben a while since I've seen Kohli bat like this at the start of an innings. A slog over mid-wicket, an upper cut…. His greatness as a white ball batsmen has come with cutting out risk and playing fantastic traditional cricket.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 11, 2020
On the other side, the bigger worry is the performance of Jasprit Bumrah who could take just one ODI wicket in 6 matches since his comeback.
Lack of wickets was a concern in home series against Australia as well but at least he kept things tight from one end which wasn’t the case here. Williamson, Taylor, Guptill all went after him and he ended up with an economy rate of 5.56 in the ODI series.
2. The relevance of ODI series:
In the year of the T20 World Cup and the ICC World Test Championship, one format which has taken a back seat is ODIs which is quite understandable. Not to forget that India traveled to this country just 12 months back to win the ODI series 4-1.
However, Virat Kohli made the statement that ODIs in this calendar are not as relevant as the other two formats. Does that statement reflect India’s lack of motivation for the series? Even if result wise it wasn’t as relevant but could have India used the series differently?
Rishabh Pant couldn’t get a single game on the tour. Manish Pandey was dropped from ODIs without any reason. Shardul Thakur kept leaking runs and ended up playing every match of the tour. Kedar Jadhav who definitely does not fit in the long term scheme of things. It’s fine to lose a series or two if your selections have any long term vision. But according to me, India hardly ticked any box.
3. New look Top-order:
You don’t often see two openers making their debut in the same match but India had to as Rohit pulled out due to the calf injury.
Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw showed a glimpse of promise but failed to convert the starts.
Mayank’s issue is slightly more worrying as he is the sure-shot starter in Test XI. So far In the A tour as well as ODI series, he struggled to buy a run. His technical flaws will get more attention from Boult & Co in the Test series. It’ll be interesting to see how he overcomes that challenge.
On the other side, Prithvi Shaw looked more impressive of the two. But he couldn’t convert his starts either. 20, 24, 40 are not the type of innings that would force team management to drop one of the regular openers. A technical flaw is one thing but he needs to work on his running between the wickets which costed his wicket today. He could have gone much earlier if de Grandhomme’s throw was a yard quicker when he was coming back for the 3rd run.
Kohli’s lone fifty in the series didn’t help the cause either. The result is India’s top-3 produced a batting average of 21.66 which has been the poorest since the series against Bangladesh in 2014.
Though if you are a Kiwi fan, you could argue that New Zealand also played with their 2nd string pace attack. A pace attack without the big names of Trent Boult, Matt Henry, and Lockie Ferguson.
4. No pace-bowling depth in limited-overs:
While India are blessed with a good crop of pacers in Test cricket who are ready to face any batting lineup in the world, it’s not the same case in the limited-overs.
Barring Jasprit Bumrah and to some extent Mohammed Shami, there are some big holes to fill. Saini showed some promise in patches but lacked control in longer spells. And as Shami took rest in the last two ODIs, India’s pace bowling attack lacked teeth to set the tone in the first powerplay.
In all 3 games, the earliest India could get a breakthrough was in the 16th over which means they always had to play the catch-up game.
5. Lack of intensity in the field:
Even in the T20s, this was a big issue but somehow got away with it. The frequency of misfields and overthrows was quite higher and dropped catches turned out to be the turning point most of the time. There was a serious lack of intensity in the field.
Today once Saini didn’t go for the catch in the deep mid-wicket off Grandhomme and he ended up with 21 balls fifty. That reflects India’s fielding results in the series. And pretty sure they don’t wanna remind what Ross ‘The Boss’ Taylor did in the previous matches after the reprieves.
Team India has fallen. Fallen from the top and hard. The only way for them to forget their bruises is to white-wash New Zealand in the upcoming two-match Test series starting February 21, 2020, Friday.
Related Reading:
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- Neil Wagner Reveals His Plan For Virat Kohli Ahead Of Christchurch Test
- India Suffer 1st Defeat in World Test Championship (5 Talking Points)
- NZ vs IND 1st Test: Miscommunication With Rahane Leads To Pant’s Run-Out
- Ross Taylor Revisits Test Debut, Claims He Didn’t Know If He’d Play After His 1st Test
- Kagiso Rabada Suspended For Johannesburg Test For ‘Wild’ Celebration Against Joe Root
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