India were on a roll since the world cup as they won or at least managed to draw each and every series they played irrespective of the conditions and venues. India started their first overseas assignment this year on a historic note when they whitewashed the Kiwis in their own backyard in the T20I series 5-nil. But in a sudden turn of events just after 9 days of their T20 triumph, India were blanked by the injury hit Kiwis in the 3 match ODI series 3-0.
Here we dig deep into the reasons for India’s dismal performance in the ODI series
An experiment with 2 new openers let India down
India are without the services of 2 of their veteran white ball openers in Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. There is no shortage of talent in the Indian bench. India has one of the best backup resources in the world. The Indian team management took a very bold move to open the innings in not so familiar conditions with 2 debutants which backfired in a massive manner. Indian openers were clueless to the Kiwis new ball bowlers and couldn’t able to provide even a near descent start to the Indian innings.
A series to forget for Virat Kohli
The Indian skipper who doesn’t know the meaning of a lean patch in his career in white ball cricket has been going through one in his 12 year old illustrious career. Though Virat started the series with a half century in the 1st game, he failed miserably in the remaining 2 ODIs that he managed scores of 9 and 15, thereby finishing the series with 75 runs from 3 games which is his worst series in the last 3 years.
Fielding- A major concern
The fielding is one area where India looked class apart in the last 3 years after the yo-yo test was brought into the scheme of things under Virat Kohli. India turned into a fielding side that could save a minimum of 10 to 20 runs on the field, but off late India has been poor in the ground fielding and catching. Even the word poor is an understatement. India dropped the catch of Ross Taylor in the 1st ODI of the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja and Taylor went on to score a match winning century and from there on the Kiwis never looked back. The fielding woes has been a major concern for this Indian team.
Bowlers failed to step up
India couldn’t defend 347 runs in the 1st ODI which was a shocker. The Indian bowling that boasted of Bumrah, Shami, Kuldeep, Jadeja was made to look silly by the Blackcaps. The leading wicket taker in the ODI cricket 2019 Mohammad Shami looked completely out of sorts and kept feeding hit me balls to the Kiwis batsmen.
The bowling woes continued in the 2nd ODI where they allowed the tail enders to score crucial runs which in the end cost the game for India. Again the New Zealanders made a mockery of the Indian bowling in the 3rd game where they chased 297 runs inside 48 overs with 5 wickets in hand. India should think of playing Kulcha together as they lack tooth to take wickets in the middle overs without them.
Poor team selection
India kept persisting with Kedar Jadhav and Shardul Thakur for some reason believing that the former can bowl a bit and the latter can bat a bit. This theory has been biting India time and again but India team management is adamant to drop them. Though Kedar Jadhav was dropped in the final ODI which gave Manish Pandey an opportunity in which he showed good composure and maturity, Thakur was persisted and he went for 87 runs in his 9.1 overs to go with the wicket of Henry Nicholls.
India lost their plot completely in the ODI series and will be looking to comeback in the all important Test series starting on 21st February.