The first ODI between India and New Zealand will be played at Napier.
India doesn’t have a very good record against New Zealand in their own backyard, winning only 10 ODIs. The last of the Indian win came in 2009, while they lost the last series played in 2014 by a margin of 4-0. This will be a good time to gain some ground on the hosts and better their record against them.
With the anticipation of a brilliant series, Team COC presents to you the predicted Team India playing XI for the first ODI.
Given that they have been one of the most deadly and effective opening combinations in the world, Team India might want to continue gaining advantage from the Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma combo. This will also give Dhawan some good game time to gain back some form, as he looked lackluster against Australia in the three-match series.
Dhoni played brilliantly in the last two ODIs against Australia, playing till the end and anchoring one end. This will give the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik to accelerate from one end. However, the challenge for MS Dhoni will be to change his game if and when India bats first, when he would be needed to score at a much faster rate, to lay the foundation for a big score for his team.
As mentioned before, Kedar Jadhav at no.5 and Dinesh Karthik at no.6 are set to play the role of finishers. Both have the ability to run well between the wickets and play the big shots when necessary. In order to balance the side, India might be tempted to play all-rounder Vijay Shankar in the team, as along with Kedar Jadhav, Shankar will form the fifth bowling option.
Presence of Vijay Shankar might enable the Indian team to play their spin twins Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the team. Though the grounds in New Zealand are small in size, the spin twins are well versed in bowling in such places.
COC Predicted Team India playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal