Ex-India Test captain Ajinkya Rahane has stated that while the Indian team will face tough questions after a 1-2 ODI series defeat to New Zealand, they must follow the process and sort out the players they need to back.

New Zealand defeated India by 41 runs in the third and deciding ODI in Indore. Darly Mitchell and Glenn Phillips hit centuries to take New Zealand to 337/8. In response, despite Virat Kohli’s 124 and fifties by Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana, India could only manage 296 runs, losing the game and the series as well.

Former India player Ajinkya Rahane believes that making too many changes in the ODI setup may have cost India the series against New Zealand, and that, as the ODI World Cup approaches, Gautam Gambhir and his team should use the remaining ODIs to settle on a stable combination without too many tweaks.

“There will be tough questions. India lost 5 ODIs in the last 9. The reason is because there are too many changes. That’s why I said, you are looking at the World Cup where players need that security, they need that clarity from the management. If you are going to play those certain players in that format, it’s always about clarity. There will be tough questions, which is very natural, I feel. Especially from the fans. Indian cricket is so connected. Everyone wants Indian cricket to do well, India to win the match, India to win the series. Especially in India. Playing against New Zealand, which was New Zealand’s A or B team. Due respect to all the players, but expectations were there. We all thought India would win easily, probably 3-0. But the way New Zealand played has been amazing,” Rahane said on Cricbuzz.

“There will be tough questions, but I feel from an Indian team’s point of view, they just need to follow the process. Just see which are the players you are going to back because 6 months down the line, you are going to play ODI cricket again. You have time. After (NZ) T20Is, there’s nothing at all. Probably after IPL, you are going to play ODIs. So, it’s always about finding your right players and right combinations and just backing them,” he added.

Indian team will now play ODIs in June when they tour England for a three-match series.