There is less than a year left for the ODI World Cup 2027 and the Indian team is busy preparing for it. For this preparation, the Indian team is currently on a tour of New Zealand, where it is playing an ODI series. Team India has definitely taken a 2-1 lead in the series but despite this, shortcomings have come to light. Especially in the fourth ODI, Team India proved to be a flop on all three fronts i.e. batting, bowling and fielding, due to which questions are being raised on the chances of winning the World Cup.
In the fourth ODI match played in Mount Maunganui, a picture of the current condition of the Indian team emerged, which is likely to be repeated in the World Cup 2027 in South Africa. It is true that Team India entered this match without three key players like Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Jasprit Bumrah. But most of the players of the team were those who could be a part of the World Cup and their performance was quite disappointing.
First of all let's talk about bowling. The Indian team won both the initial matches of this series and the young fast bowlers had a big contribution in it. But on both the occasions when Team India bowled first, the match started late due to rain. In such a situation, the conditions were favorable for bowling and the Indian bowlers also took advantage of this. But there was no rain in Mount Maunganui and Indian bowling was a flop at the Bay Oval ground.
New Zealand made a big score of 333 runs, in which except Arshdeep Singh and Akshar Patel, all the Indian bowlers were thrashed. The most disturbing thing in this is the form of Kuldeep Yadav, who gave away 73 runs in 8 overs and could not even take any wicket. Obviously Bumrah's return will strengthen the bowling but who will support him?
Similar is the situation with batting. Even though Shubman Gill was not a part of this match, he also came out to bat in the last 2 matches, in one of which he could not even open the account. While the conditions were favorable for the bowlers due to rain in both those matches of the series, the Indian batsmen also looked troubled. But at Bay Oval, where New Zealand scored 333 runs, India lost 3 wickets without scoring any runs in the first over itself.
Rohit Sharma failed to open the account for the second time in the series while Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer were also out on 0. Ishan Kishan, who came after him, definitely took charge of the team but he too was bowled by Matt Henry's excellent ball. This innings proved that even without rain, if the pitch provided some help to the fast bowlers, then the Indian batting full of legends would be destroyed and it is natural for the pitch to be helpful to the pacers in South Africa.
But while batting and bowling are based on conditions, fielding is an aspect for which this excuse cannot be used. Good fielding is expected from a team like India but Indian players have failed in this for the last several months. Irrespective of the format, cases of dropped catches have increased continuously.
In the fourth ODI, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan took easy catches on two consecutive balls. After this Rohit again dropped a catch. At the same time, the ball went between the legs of Virat Kohli and went for 4 runs. Even in the T20 series, Indian fielding, especially catching, remained under question and if it does not improve then the World Cup will again remain a dream.