India v New Zealand 1st ODI: India Player Ratings

New Zealand had a dismal show in the Test series against India. Coming into the ODI series, they were bolstered by the comeback of Tim Southee and Corey Anderson. The teams arrived at the iconic stadium at Dharamsala for the first showdown. New Zealand came into the game seeking their first win on the tour. MS Dhoni resumed captaincy duties for India and looked to start on a high note too.

The absence of Suresh Raina saw Kedar Jadhav get into the playing eleven for India. Hardik Pandya also found a place in the team and made his debut. Pandya impressed on debut as he bagged 3 wickets. Indian bowlers looked like bundling New Zealand for a low score. New Zealand were reeling on 67/7 when Tim Southee and Tom Latham rebuilt the innings. Gutsy half centuries from both players saw New Zealand post 190/10 in 43.5 overs.

India made a decent start to their run chase with Ajinkya Rahane scoring 33. It was all Virat Kohli show from thereon as the middle-order batsman single-handedly took the game away from the visitors. India won the match with ease with 6 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Here are the India player ratings from the match:

Rohit Sharma – 3.5/10:

Indian opener Rohit Sharma was expected to be firing in from all cylinders. With the kind of form he showed in Test cricket, Indian fans wanted him to chase the modest total quickly. Sharma took his time to settle in and eventually gave his wicket away when he should have accelerated.

He started off with a bit of promise. He pulled with ease to hit a six over deep square leg. He then slowed down as his partner Rahane stepped on the accelerator. After setting himself up, he gave his wicket away on 14 off 26 balls. Earlier in the match, he had taken a good reflex catch in the slips to send Martin Guptill packing.

Also read- IND v NZ 1st ODI Review: Clinical India take 1-0 lead in the series