Auckland: The irrepressible Rohit Sharma and the indomitable Virat Kohli are predictably the focus of all attention on their last tour of the Southern Hemisphere but India’s thin-on-experience bowling attack gives New Zealand the upper-hand in the five-match ODI series starting here on Wednesday.
With Jasprit Bumrah being preserved for Test matches and the duo of Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana still some weeks away from an international return, workhorse Mohammed Siraj will have to shoulder additional burden during the series.
The four other specialist fast bowlers — Arshdeep Singh (18), Gurnoor Brar (9), Anshul Kamboj and Auqib Nabi (one each) have a cumulative experience of 29 ODIs.
India won’t be at full strength due to the World Test Championship games scheduled shortly after the fifth and last ODI at Tauranga. The series winds up on November 15 and the first Test starts in Wellington on November 19.
Even skipper Shubman Gill will skip the last two ODIs to focus on the Tests.
“If there had been a gap between the ODI series and the Test series, we would have had the opportunity to play all five matches. But because there is a very short gap between the ODIs and the Test matches, we will have to manage the workload,” Gill said on the eve of the opening ODI.
“Both formats are important. Unfortunately, because we are playing the ODIs in between, some of the players who are part of the Test team will have to miss the last two ODIs,” the skipper added.
With South Africa winning the Test series against Australia, things have become difficult for India (currently fourth on the WTC table) as they have to win at least six of the remaining seven Tests and also hope that a few other results go their way.
“The World Test Championship scenario has also become very interesting. The series between Australia and South Africa was very good and balanced the table nicely. Hopefully, if we play well in the Test series here, followed by the series against Australia at home, we will have a chance to play in the final,” the skipper tried to put things in perspective.
The Combination
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In the ODI set-up, India’s top five is almost fixed with Rohit and skipper Gill opening the innings, followed by the peerless Kohli and then vice-captain Shreyas Iyer at No. 4.
Veteran keeper-batter KL Rahul is at No. 5 while all-rounders Axar Patel and Nitish Kumar Reddy (available only for first ODI) will be floated between numbers six and seven.
It is expected that the Indian team management will look to use Anshul Kamboj’s big-hitting abilities at number eight since Harshit Rana is still not available.
At the Eden Park, where the straight boundaries are ridiculously short with the distance being only 55 metres, India would need three fast bowlers in Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and the lanky Gurnoor Brar.
The Kuldeep conundrum
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While Kuldeep Yadav, highest ODI wicket-taker in the current team with 201 scalps, is available, the absence of a Hardik Pandya makes it very difficult for him to make the cut.
However, with only four fielders allowed outside the circle between overs 11 to 40, middle overs have become doubly important and no one can deny that Kuldeep is an attacking option.
“In the middle overs, it is very important to have a wicket-taking option. I don’t know how many overs of spin will be required on this ground, considering the straight boundary and its dimensions. The straight boundary distance is around 55 metres which is ridiculously short as far as international standard is concerned,” Gill said.
“But keeping the World Cup in mind, having a strike bowler in the middle overs, whether a spinner or a fast bowler, who can take wickets for us in those conditions, is very important.
“Otherwise, you only have four fielders outside the circle. Even if your power-play goes well, the game can quickly slip out of your control when you don’t take wickets in the middle overs. That has definitely been a problem for us,” he added.
Ageing Black Caps worry for skipper Santner
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If India find themselves short in terms of fast-bowling resources, New Zealand are dealing with their own set of issues as the average age of the ODI squad is between 34 and 35, said skipper Mitchell Santner.
In fact, he indicated that a chunk of players are looking at the 2027 World Cup as their swan-song.
“Everyone’s kind of 34 or 35. With one-day cricket being in the cycle, after this World Cup, the focus is going to shift again to T20 cricket, with the T20 World Cup being the next priority as well. So, yeah, I guess no one’s told me anything yet, but it could be,” said the 34-year-old.
