New Zealand registered a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over India in the second ODI in Rajkot on Wednesday (January 14).

While the hosts won the series opener in Vadodara by four wickets, they failed to defend a target of 285 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 131 overshadowed KL Rahul’s 112* as the Kiwis overhauled the target with 15 deliveries to spare, setting up a series-decider on Sunday (January 18) in Indore.

After the game, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate admitted that the Indian team no longer remains an invincible force at home and called for the need to restore the fear of touring the country in the minds of the opposition.

“We’re always trying to win every game with sort of managing the medium to long-term prospects of the team as well. But yeah, it’s certainly something we need to get back to, to guys really fearing coming in and playing India,” Ten Doeschate said in the post-match presser.

In the previous assignment against South Africa, India lost the second ODI and the final match became a series-decider. While the Men in Blue prevailed versus the Proteas, they will look to replicate similar performance against the Black Caps.

Ryan ten Doeschate was left disappointed by Indian spinners’ display on a slow Rajkot pitch, and said that the team management will look into it.

“We still thought 290 was about right. We thought the wicket would get a bit tougher tonight. We didn’t actually mind bowling second,” the Dutchman stated.

“We probably want to bowl a little bit better than we did tonight, particularly spinners, like you say, about lengths. But we’ll go back and look at those lengths in more detail. But it’s never just one reason for losing a game. There’s a lot of different things going into that loss tonight,” he added.

(With PTI Inputs)