India v New Zealand: Five Indian players to watch out for in the series

The current Indian team has dismantled everyone who came their way and barring the Test series against Australia, they faced no great competition. 2017 has been quite a memorable year for team India as Virat Kohli as a skipper is yet to lose an ODI series. With all the wonderful things happening to them, a formidable Kiwi unit prepares to throw a fight at them in the ODIs, beginning from 23rd October.

Dinesh Karthik, the man who’s making a comeback int the side after a long time, rated this Indian side as one of the greatest of all time. It comes in as no surprise to anyone as this ain’t a singular argument. The entire fraternity has been showering praises on this unit, who managed to rip apart West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Australia since the Champions Trophy.

Martin Guptill too suggested that beating this Indian team in India would be like winning a World Cup for them. This statement kind of explains the ferocity with which Kohli’s troops have approached in recent times. The Kiwis won’t make things easy as well and for the fans a delightful, entertaining and well-contested series in on cards. On that note, let’s take a look at the five most crucial players in the Indian side, who will hog the limelight on Monday.

1. Shikhar Dhawan

The Gabbar is back in the Indian side after missing out on the series against Australia. So evidently, he will take his place back as the opener alongside Rohit Sharma and the on song Ajinkya Rahane will have to get back to the bench. Nevertheless, Dhawan’s form this year has been spectacular and for the first time since turning regular, he looks effortlessly comfortable in the crease. On his day, Dhawan can reign supreme on any bowling attack in the world and the Kiwis would be hoping fortune doesn’t favor him much.

2. Virat Kohli

Everyone was hoping for Kohli to score that record-breaking 31st ODI hundred against Australia, but as it turned out, he missed out by 9 runs at Eden Gardens. Nevertheless, Kohli will be eager to get some big scores against the Blackcaps. The Indian skipper’s performance against the Aussies was relatively poor but he’s that sort of a player who can never be written off, even when he’s a 50-year-old. Williamson will be wary of the threat he poses and if they let him get going, 50 overs will seem a lot longer than what they are.

3. Kuldeep Yadav

A chinaman bowler is quite a rare stock in the market and demands quite a high value. Kuldeep Yadav is currently one of the best spinners in Limited overs and his inexplicably mysterious exploits have got the batters tottering. Kuldeep is definitely in the good books of his skipper currently and a fact that he’s playing ahead of mainstream bowlers like Ashwin and Jadeja speaks a lot. New Zealand batsmen are not great tackling spin and Kuldeep will give them quite an amazing time in the middle.

4. Jasprit Bumrah

Another youngster who has been taking giant strides in International cricket, Jasprit Bumrah is nurturing beautifully and butchering the batsmen with ease. One of the best exponents of death overs bowling, Bumrah is touted to be the successor of Lasith Malinga when it comes to cranking those block holes in the death and thus far, he’s done a fairly decent job. He seems to be enjoying the partnership with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and few more good performances will book his seat for the 2019 World Cup in England.

5. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya’s meteoric rise from IPL to becoming the most important cricketer in the side is really inspirational. Pandya has instrumental with both bat and ball and he’s as agile and swift as anyone on the field. India has been hunting for such three-dimensional players for a long while and Pandya is filling in the boots perfectly. His man of the series rendition in the ODI series against Australia has justified a fact that he has settled very well in International cricket and the Kiwis will be having him on their hit list.