The 5-match T20 series between India and New Zealand is starting from Wednesday (November 4). In this series, all eyes will once again be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but due to Team India's inexperienced bowling attack, host New Zealand seems to be in a better position. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested keeping in mind the Test series to be held after the ODI series, while Prasidh Krishna and Harshit Rana are out of the team due to injuries. In such a situation, experienced Mohammad Siraj will have to take additional responsibility.
Apart from Siraj, the other 4 specialist bowlers included in the Indian team, Arshdeep Singh (18), Gurnoor Brar (9), Anshul Kamboj and Aaqib Nabi (1-1) have a total experience of 29 ODI matches. Keeping in mind the Test series starting immediately after the fifth and final ODI in Tauranga, some of India's star players will not play in the last two ODIs. The ODI series will end on November 15 and the first Test match will be played in Wellington on November 19.
Captain Shubman Gill will also not play the last two ODIs to focus on the Test matches. Gill said on the eve of the first ODI, 'If there was more gap between the ODI series and the Test series, we would have played all five matches but because of the very short gap between the ODI and Test matches, we will have to manage the workload. Therefore, some players included in the Test team will not be able to play the last two ODIs.
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India's path to WTC final difficult
After South Africa's victory in the Test series against Australia, the path to reach the final has become difficult for India, who is ranked fourth in the World Test Championship table. He will now have to win at least six of the remaining seven Test matches and also hope that the results of some other matches go in his favour. This is the reason why India is giving more priority to the Test series. India's top-5 batsmen in ODI are almost certain.
Team India's batting order will be like this
Rohit and captain Gill will start the innings. After him comes Kohli and vice-captain Shreyas Iyer. Experienced wicketkeeper batsman KL Rahul will bat at number five, while all-rounders Axar Patel and Nitish Kumar Reddy (who are available only for the first ODI) could be sent to bat at numbers six and seven. Due to injury to Harshit Rana, the Indian team management can try Anshul Kamboj at number eight who is also capable of batting aggressively.
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Will Team India play Kuldeep?
The direct boundary at Eden Park is very short and its distance is only 55 meters. In such a situation, India can keep Siraj, Arshdeep Singh and tall Gurnoor Brar in the playing XI. Due to the absence of Hardik Pandya, it is difficult for Kuldeep Yadav to make a place in the playing eleven even though he has taken the maximum 201 wickets in India's current bowling attack. The middle overs have become more important given that only four fielders are allowed outside the circle between overs 11 and 40. Therefore Kuldeep's role may be important.
Gill said, 'It is very important to have a good option to take wickets in the middle overs. Given the straight boundary and its short distance, I don't know how many overs the spinners will be able to bowl on this ground but keeping the World Cup in mind, it is very important to have a strike bowler in the middle overs who can take wickets.
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New Zealand's team is aging
If India is weak in the fast bowling department, then most of the players in the New Zealand team are old. The average age of its ODI team is between 34 to 35. In such a situation, captain Mitchell Santner indicated that the ODI World Cup to be held in 2027 could be the last tournament for many players. He is also included in these players. He said, 'Most of our players are around 34 or 35 years of age. After the ODI World Cup, all the focus will again shift to T20 cricket. No player has told me about his future plans yet but it is possible.
Both teams are as follows:
India – Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Mohammad Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav, Naman Dhir
New Zealand – Mitchell Santner (c), Tim Seifert, Henry Nicholls, Tom Latham (wk), Will Young, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Fisher, Matt Henry, Blair Tickner, Nathan Smith