Team India will take on the number 1 ranked ODI side New Zealand in 3 matches ODI series on 18 January 2023.
The Men in Blue will be high on confidence as they whitewashed Sri Lanka by 3-0. They would be looking to continue their amazing form with another dominating display against the Kiwi side. Axar Patel and KL Rahul will not feature in this series due to family reasons. Shreyas Iyer has been also ruled out of the series due to a back injury.
New Zealand will be without their key players like Tim Southee and Kane Williamson. They won their maiden ODI series on Pakistan soil after a gap of 46 years. Kiwis side would look to give a tough fight to the Indian team and win their maiden ODI series win in India for 35 years.
Both teams played each other 116 times with India winning 55, New Zealand 50, and 11 resulting in drawing, no result, or abandonment. It promises to be an exciting series as the Indian team would look to show their domination at home while New Zealand will look to create an impact with their fringe players.
5 players to watch out for in India versus New Zealand ODI series:
- Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli returned to form with style during the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. He scored 113 in the first ODI at Guwahati and then breath-taking 166 in the 3rd One-day international against Trivandrum. He recorded his 45th and 46th ODI centuries.
Kohli was awarded the player of the series with 283 runs in 3 matches. He is currently at the number 3 position in leading run-getter among India versus New Zealand ODIs. After making 8 runs in the first ODI tomorrow, he would surpass Ross Taylor’s record of most runs among these two nations.
He played his first ODI innings against New Zealand in 2010 and scored so far 1378 runs from 26 matches with 5 centuries and 8 half-centuries at an amazing average of 59.91. Kohli scored his best score against New Zealand 159 not out.
Kohli will look to continue his impressive form in the ODI series against New Zealand. With the way he is playing now, he will play an important role in helping Team India register victories.
- Devon Conway
Devon Conway has been in sensational form of late during the ODI series against Pakistan on their home soil. He showed tremendous guts and ability to put pressure on opponent bowlers keeping the scoreboard ticking. Conway was named the player of the series for his 153 runs including 101 in the 2nd ODI.
Conway batted against India on 3 occasions (2 innings) and scored 62 runs with the best score of 38 not out. Tom Latham would be hoping that Conway provides a solid start to the innings so that New Zealand can give a stiff challenge.
The left-handed Conway will be playing an ODI series on Indian soil for the first time and would look to showcase his abilities to give some momentum with the style of batting.
- Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj has been in cracking form during the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. He was the leading run-getter for Team India with 9 wickets, especially in the first 10 overs.
During the first ODI in Guwahati, Siraj grabbed two early wickets dismissing Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis to break the backbone of Lankan batting. He showed his skills with an early wicket of Avishka Fernando in the 2nd ODI at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, and then dismissed Wellage and Kumara in one over to finish with figures of 3 for 30.
Siraj then stunned the Sri Lankan batting picking up his career-best ODI figures of 4 for 32 in the 3rd ODI. Rohit Sharma and Co would be hoping that Siraj continues his brilliant form against New Zealand providing early wickets.
- Tom Latham
The stand-in captain Tom Latham has a great record against India in a One Day International format., Latham struggled with scores of 45, 2, and 16 during the ODI series against Pakistan.
Latham played 20 matches against India (17 innings) and scored 846 runs with 2 centuries and 5 half-centuries to his name. He posted his career-best ODI score of 145 not out in the first ODI at Eden Park, Auckland last year.
Latham would be looking to lead from the front and look to showcase his abilities with the bat. He can play the spinners and pacers with ease.
- Kuldeep Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav was included in the playing XI replacing Yuzvendra Chahal. Kusal Mendis and Nuwanidu Fernando looked good for a big total before Kuldeep Yadav got 3 wickets to rattle the Sri Lankan batting. He picked the wicket of Kusal Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, and Charith Asalanaka ending with figures of 3 for 51 in 10 overs. For his match-winning performance, Kuldeep was named the player of the match.
He was again in his element during the 3rd ODI with a beauty to dismiss Dasun Shanaka. He then grabbed the wicket of Lahiru Kumara. His performance stood out during the series with 5 wickets and hopes to do the job if given a chance in playing XI.
Kuldeep Yadav has a decent record against New Zealand in the ODI format. He has featured in 6 ODIs against Kiwis and grabbed 11 wickets at an economy of 5.57 runs per over, with best figures of 4 for 39.
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