The revival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni meant India won its first ever bilateral ODI series in Australia 2-1 after the former captain struck three consecutive half centuries to be an instrumental factor in team’s triumph. India will next face a much fancied opponent in New Zealand who have been playing good cricket in home and at away tours. Kane Williamson led side is a much experienced ODI outfit and the men in blue will have a job in their hand to eke out a win.
The failure of certain players didn’t help India’s cause of a certain playing XI for the New Zealand ODI series.
India’s predicted playing XI for ODI series against New Zealand
Openers- Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan
Rohit Sharma looked in tremendous touch in the ODI series against Australia. The vice captain of the limited overs format was the third highest run getter in the series by scoring 185 runs in three matches. However, the Nagpur born Mumbai bound cricketer fell to poor shot selection in last two ODIs and he will hope to get some consistent run scoring form in the series.
Shikhar Dhawan has been in and out of form in the limited overs format. The Delhi lad scored just 55 runs in three matches in Australia and he needs to fire in order to retain his place for the world cup. The rise of young players like Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal might just be an indication for him to perform neither he may be sidelined from the team, marking the end of his International career.
