IND v NZL, 2nd ODI Preview: Shell-shocked India aims to square the series at Pune

After a cracker of a contest at Mumbai, the focus shifts to another one of Maharashtra’s mainstay, Pune. Virat Kohli’s record-breaking hundred wasn’t sufficient for India as Tom Latham and Ross Taylor propelled New Zealand to a famous win at the Wankhede. It was evenly contested encounter for a major while before these two gentlemen batted their way out of trouble beautifully.

Skipper Kane Williamson’s masterstroke to push Latham down the order worked wonders for the side. Latham is one of the best players of spin bowling in their side and to counter the Indian spinners in the middle stages of the innings, he was asked to bat at number 5. The southpaw reciprocated with a scintillating hundred and was brilliantly supported by the experienced campaigner Ross Taylor.

India lost the game in the middle overs of the second innings, where the spinners and pacers failed to pick up any wickets. Taylor and Latham took some time to settle, but once they got in, they walked their way towards the finish line. Dhawan and Rohit played reckless shots and they’d be furious with the way they got dismissed. Nevertheless, most of the Indian players were in decent nick and it’d be really surprising if they let the Kiwis pounce on them once again.

Toss: New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat

Virat Kohli: We wanted to field anyway, not such a bad thing. Looks like a good surface to bat on. The one we played against England was similar. Generally, the wicket plays better in the evening. We have won 9 out 11 in recent times, you lose one here and there. We need such things to bounce back from, we are looking for the challenge. It will also help us in the future when we are playing away from India. One change, Axar Patel as the all-rounder for Kuldeep.

Kane Williamson: We are going to have a bat. Looks like a good surface. It was a very good performance, but it is a new day and we have to play well. It was very humid and drier heat here. (We are playing with the) Same XI.

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(w), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

Focus will be on

Virat Kohli (India)

After registering a record-breaking 31st ODI century in Mumbai, Virat Kohli has a chance to become the 18th player in cricket history to complete 9,000 ODI runs. He will have work hard for it though, as he is 112 runs short of that milestone. He played 192 innings thus far in his career and AB de Villiers, who reached 9,000 ODI runs in 205 innings, tops the charts in the list of the fastest to 9,000 runs. It’ll come in as a surprise if Kohli won’t be eclipsing this landmark in this series.

Tom Latham (New Zealand)

What a knock that was from Tom Latham on Sunday! Patient, calm and aggressive when necessary, it was a perfect dish cooked making optimum use of all the ingredients. The 25-year-old registered his 4th ODI hundred and definitely, many more such knocks are coming in the future. The way he played against the spinners will make skipper Kohli think a lot, but he will not be panicked and will go with the same XI on Wednesday.

Playing combinations

India

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will be the ones to embark the innings upon and the in-form skipper Kohli will bat at number. India’s problems to find a proper number 4 will continue and Dinesh Karthik might get a chance to bat there in this game. Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya will be next up and they have a decent number 8 in Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were a bit off target in the first match, but their quality can never be doubted. They both will take the new ball once again and Hardik Pandya will be their third seamer. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have the captain’s trust and will get another game to prove their worth.

New Zealand

The aggressive duo of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro will open the innings and the Indian bowlers will be hoping that neither of them fire. Skipper Williamson will be next up at number 3, followed by Taylor, Latham, Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner.

Trent Boult was excellent the other day, picking up four crucial wickets for his side. Once again, he will be their mainstay and Tim Southee and Adam Milne will be the other two fast bowling options. With Pune having relatively longer side boundaries, the skipper might be tempted to play two spinners, but only Santner will get the nod. Munro and Grandhomme are 5th and 6th bowlers in the side.

StatAttack

3 – Jasprit Bumrah needs 3 more wickets to complete 50 ODI wickets

3 – This is the third ODI being played at the MCA Stadium, Pune.

3 – In the two games played at this stadium, 300< scores have been registered thrice.

112 – Virat Kohli needs 112 runs to complete 9,000 ODI runs. Looking at his current form, it’d be least surprising if he gets these runs at the MCA stadium on Wednesday.