Amid the bat-dominating-ball era, it was intriguing to see the batters put to the test in the series opener at Eden Park, Auckland on Wednesday. There was bounce and seam movement for the pacers, and batting wasn’t easy as the bowlers made the most of the conditions.
However, one man, Virat Kohli, who has seen it all, stood out and looked untroubled. He smashed 74 runs off just 51 balls on a pitch, where batters’ first instinct was to survive.
Kohli, though, was in his own world, and in his new world, he scores his runs faster than he has ever done in the format; which he bosses like a king. For Kohli, it was not about survival; he wanted to hunt down the New Zealand bowlers, and he did that in style.
Meanwhile, India is expected to play with an exchanged playing combination. Auqib Nabi Dar was the only fast bowler who had failed to impress, but the team management would look to give him one more opportunity before turning to more experienced Mohammed Siraj.
Kuldeep Yadav has been unlucky to miss out, but if the pitch at Wellington is anywhere close to the track in Auckland, the wrist spinner will continue to miss out.
On the other hand, New Zealand would want to come up with an improved batting performance. None of the batters could show any gumption in the previous game and they would look to deliver.
Head-to-head: Matches: 124, Won by India: 64, Won by New Zealand: 52, No Result: 7, Tied: 1.
New Zealand Squad: Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Tom Latham(w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Nathan Smith, Matthew Fisher, Blair Tickner, Tim Seifert, Kyle Jamieson
India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan
