The Indian team will be eager to get back one on the board after losing the first ODI of the three-match series to New Zealand in Auckland. The second ODI will be played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on November 27, Sunday.
New Zealand had managed to chase down the 307-run target thanks to Tom Latham’s scintillating 145* and Kane Williamson’s 94* and their record 221-run partnership for the fourth wicket. On the Indian side, Shreyas Iyer top-scored with 80, while Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan scored half-centuries as well.
The second match will be crucial for the Indian team as a win here will enable them to square off the series 1-1, as India last won an ODI series in New Zealand in 2018-19.
Keeping this in mind, here is the COC Predicted Playing XI for Team India in the second ODI in Hamilton
The Indian batters did well, especially the openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill, who added 124 runs as well for the opening wicket. Shreyas Iyer has continued his amazing form in 50-over cricket in New Zealand as well, scoring 80 runs with sublime hitting.
However, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant failed to come well and the pressure to perform more is on Rishabh Pant, who batted at no.4 and made 15 runs in 23 balls. Pant has been under fire for his form with the bat lately and will need substantial innings here to shut his detractors up.
One of the issues that many former cricketing experts raised was that India played without a sixth bowling option in their side and while Sanju Samson contributed vital runs in the end, the Indian team management needs to seriously think about bringing in Deepak Hooda in the middle order.
He can roll his arm over as well, giving relief in case a bowler had a bad day.
Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal failed to pick any wickets in Auckland, but they would need to do well in Hamilton if India wishes to win the match and equalize the series.
India played just three pacers in Auckland- Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, and Umran Malik, out of which, Umran and Arshdeep made their ODI debuts. While Umran Malik had a good outing, taking 2 wickets, and Shardul bowled well in his first spell, picking one wicket, Thakur’s 25-run over at a crucial stage turned the tide against India.
Indian team management will do well with bringing in Deepak Chahar as well, which not only gives them an extended batting cushion, but a fourth pacer will provide that cover that Shikhar Dhawan missed in Auckland.
COC predicted Team India playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan (C), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (VC-WK), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh.
