India vs New Zealand ODIs - Five things we learnt

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  • Five definitive points from the recent series.

    Indian bowlers blew away New Zealand and humbled them to a huge defeat in the fifth ODI at Visakhapatnam to clinch the ODI series 3-2 on Saturday.

    The Kiwis will be happy with their performance in the series even though they surrendered quite tamely in the all-important series decider.

    Here are five things we learnt from India’s series victory over New Zealand.

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    CHASING REMAINS DIFFICULT

    The myth that was busted in the series was that the Indian team can chase down any total in ODI cricket especially on home turf. Contrary to expectations, the Indian team faltered, not once, but twice, while chasing modest totals under lights in the series.

    The way in which they threw away the advantage by losing wickets in clusters even after getting off to good starts suggests that the hosts did press the panic button while chasing.

    Even New Zealand lost in the only match they were required to chase down a total.

    Barring the Indian victory while chasing a total of 191 in the first ODI, totals over 200 were chased down successfully only once in the series out of the remaining four occasions. This proves that the struggle while chasing down any score in limited overs cricket still exists.

    INDIA ARE TOO DEPENDENT ON KOHLI

    Virat Kohli continued his sublime form in the series, notching up two half-centuries and a century. With 358 runs in the series at an average of 119.33 and a strike-rate of 100.84, there wasn’t anything more you could have asked for from India’s Test captain.

    Kohli scored briskly, often taking the game to the opposition. But the real downside to Kohli’s extraordinary form is that India are now over-reliant on him.

    Kohli starred in both the successful chases in the series – his unbeaten 85 finished off the chase of 191 in the first ODI while it was his majestic 154* in the third ODI that helped India chase down 286. His 65 in the fifth ODI helped the team post 269 while batting first.

    The two occasions when he failed to score a half-century, getting out for 9 in Delhi and for 45 in Ranchi, the Indian batting collapsed and surrendered the match to the opposition.

    Never after the team’s dependence on Sachin Tendulkar in the 1990s has an Indian team been so over-reliant on one player.

    AMIT MISHRA CAN BE A REGULAR MEMBER IN INDIA’S TEAM

    A lot has been said about India’s unceremonious dropping of Amit Mishra for the ICC World T20 earlier this year. Popular conjectures suggest that the leg-spinner is slow and non-athletic, which makes him a tricky option in limited-overs cricket.

    Mishra, who sat on the bench in the Test series to make room for an in-form Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, made it back to the team in the ODIs as the duo were rested. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, coming away with 15 wickets in the series and earned the Man of the Series award.

    He bowled beautifully with flight, guile and maintained a good economy to emerge as the highest wicket-taker in the series. It was his spell of five wickets for 18 runs in the fifth ODI at Vizag that was really the pick of the lot.

    Mishra did a good job to ensure that the absence of India’s two leading spinners was never felt in this series. Just think what a terrifying prospect he would be when he lines up to bowl in tandem alongside Ashwin and Jadeja.

    CRICKET STILL LEFT IN MS DHONI

    Ahead of the series, there was a lot of discussion about MS Dhoni’s form and how long it would be judicious for him to continue in international cricket. The Indian captain had a good series with the bat and the gloves to prove to his naysayers that there is still time on his side.

    One thing that we did learn from the series was the fact that Dhoni is no longer the clinical finisher that he once was. Instead, he looks more comfortable batting up the order at number four.

    Dhoni’s confusing batting approach in the second ODI when India faltered while chasing earned him much flak from the Indian fans. But then, it was Dhoni’s 80 off 91 balls in a 151-run match-winning partnership with Kohli in the third ODI, that helped him notch up 192 runs at an average of 38.40 in the series.

    Dhoni emerged as the second-highest run-getter for India in the series and the fourth highest overall considering batsmen from both the teams. He was exemplary as a keeper, pulling off lightening quick stumpings and the no-look run-out of Ross Taylor in Ranchi.

    As he has admitted, his ability to rotate the strike freely seems to have deserted him to an extent and that is putting more pressure on the team and himself as an individual.

    Dhoni’s strike-rate was down to 71.11 – with a strike-rate of 66 if you discount the third ODI where he scored 80 – which will be worrying the team. Everything said and done, expect him to hang around for some more time and offer more laurels to India in limited overs cricket.

    NEW ZEALAND’S BATTING LETS THEM DOWN BIG TIME

    After Brendon McCullum’s retirement, there have been suggestions that the aggression that was present in the New Zealand team has gone and it will take more time for the young team to turn into world-beaters.

    In the just concluded ODI series, we saw glimpses of New Zealand’s talent as they pushed a very good Indian team to the brink, drawing the series 2-2 going into the final ODI. Their bowlers led by Tim Southee and Trent Boult were brilliant in patches, when they bowled their team to victory.

    It was ultimately their batters who let them down in the series as barring Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, most of them were inconsistent. The Kiwis can take heart from the fact that they pushed the hosts hard but they would be disappointed that they did not find the killer instinct in the end to push them over the line.

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