After a dominating performance in the T20Is, Team India will shift their focus towards the upcoming three-match One-Day Internationals against New Zealand. The Men in Blues will look to keep up their winning run when the series starts from February 5 (Wednesday) at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.
However, Virat Kohli & Co received a massive setback ahead of the start of the series with Rohit Sharma ruled out of the tie. The star batsman suffered a calf muscle injury during the fifth T20I and will not be a part of upcoming games. Meanwhile, this will open the doors for young Prithvi Shaw, who is likely to open alongside KL Rahul. Otherwise, the team looks set and will come all guns blazing against the Kiwis.
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On the other hand, New Zealand will have a lot to do to buckle up and come out as a unit to break the losing run. The batting unit needs to take the onus and support the bowlers. The Kiwis will miss three frontline pacers owing to injuries and the responsibility will be on Tim Southee to shrug off his poor outings in the T20Is and come good for his side.
Dream 11 & Fantasy Tips
First of all, it is crucial to select a team. As they say in cricket, you don’t score any runs in the dressing room. Similarly, a player who is not playing cannot score points for you. In fact, Dream 11 has brought a change in its rule by which you can alter your team even after the toss.
Thus, you can pick your team according to the playing XI of both sides. Secondly, it is pivotal to pick the right combination of captain and vice-captain. A captain gets twice the points whereas the deputy of the team receives points at 1.5 times. Thus, it is imperative to select the in-form players as your respective captain and vice-captain.
It is also crucial to get top-order batsmen in the team. They are likely to score the major chunk of the score. Furthermore, it is pivotal to check the pitch conditions and select the team accordingly.
Predicted XI
India
KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
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New Zealand
Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett, Ish Sodhi
Pitch Report
The Seddon Park in Hamilton which is the host for the first ODI between India and New Zealand is likely to produce an equal competition between bat and ball. The average score in this ground batting first is 252 and the team fielding second have only won on nine occasions out of the 26 matches played in this venue.
Match Prediction
India will be brimming with confidence going into the ODI series after a clean sweep in the T20Is. On the other hand, New Zealand will be desperate to bounce back with the conditions favouring them. However, considering the recent performances India will start as the favourites to go 1-0 up in the series.
Dream 11 Team
