COC Cricbattle Daily Fantasy Cricket League Tips: New Zealand vs India on January 23
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Team India has been on a roll of late with Test and ODI series wins in Australia. But, they’ll now be up against a much bigger challenge in the form of New Zealand. The five-match ODI series between these two sides begins on 23 January 2019 in Napier. With both these sides playing some highly competitive cricket in the last few months both at home and away, the series is going hard-fought one. New Zealand drew the series against Pakistan in the UAE and then whitewashed Sri Lanka in the 50-over format recently. Most of their players are in exceptional form and are fighting hard for the spots in the side. At the same time, India is not far behind with their top-three batsmen being in the usual destructive form. Moreover, with some of the other experienced players getting into their zone, the side looks well-rounded.
Best economical pick – Replacing Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he picked up six wickets in the third ODI against Australia. Creating all sorts of trouble for the Aussie batting attack, Chahal was able to turn the ball extensively on the dry Melbourne pitch, taking the pace out of it and leaving the batsmen guessing. The Napier pitch also looks similar to that of Melbourne which could see Chahal creating the same impact.
Top captains & vice captains – Arguably the best ODI batsman in the world right now, Virat Kohli comes into the tour as India’s talisman. Kohli, who top scored for India during their last ODI series in New Zealand, is enjoying a purple patch in his career. Kohli scored a century in the second ODI against Australia and will be looking to pile up some more in the ODI series. Ross Taylor, over the last few months, has been an unstoppable force in the New Zealand line-up. Post his eye surgery, he worked wonders for the team and is impeccably consistent. 137, 90, 54, 86*, 80, 181* are his scores in the last six innings. The Kiwis will hope for him to carry on with the rich vein of form against a mighty side like India.
Smart pick – Martin Guptill has been on fire in the last few months and has scored runs at a quick pace at the top of the order. Guptill scored 153 runs in the 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. Guptill nevertheless will be looking to score big against the Indian bowlers who seem to be in good form.
Cautions Pick – 0(1), 32(28) and 23(46) were the three scores Shikhar Dhawan put up in the series against Australia. The left-hander hasn’t found it easy to score runs as fluently after missing out on the action for a while.
My XI – Virat Kohli (Captain), Ross Taylor (Vice-Captain), Martin Guptill, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kedar Jadhav, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson, Henry Nicholls, Vijay Shankar
