India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI, team prediction: India will hope to shrug off the disappointment of a 4-wicket loss in the previous ODI when they take on New Zealand in the 2nd ODI of the three-match series at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday. The 2nd ODI against New Zealand will be a must-win game for India. After the highs of a 5-0 T20I whitewash, the Virat Kohli-led side could not bring their A-game to the table against New Zealand, who rode on a brilliant hundred by Ross Taylor and important fifties by Tom Latham and Henry Nicholls. The Men in Blue, however, should take heart from their superlative batting performance and especially the century of Shreyas Iyer, batting at No.4.
The bowling and the fielding let India down in the first ODI. The small boundaries in Auckland – the venue for the 2nd ODI between India vs New Zealand ODI – may prompt the Indian think tank to make a couple of changes on Saturday.
Here’s India’s predicted XI for the India vs New Zealand ODI in Auckland.
Mayank Agarwal
The Karnataka batsman, who came in as injured Rohit Sharma’s replacement, made his ODI debut in Hamilton. He looked in sublime touch for his 31, before hitting a short delivery straight to the fielder at point. Agarwal is certain to get another opportunity in the 2nd ODI in Auckland.
Prithvi Shaw
India had two debutants opening the batting in the first ODI – only the fourth time in history – Prithvi Shaw was the other one. Unlike Agarwal, Shaw looked a bit out of touch. He was cramped for room on a few occasions against Tim Southee but he also showed glimpses of his talent with some fluent strokes against Hamish Bennett. He would look to convert his start into a big one in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand.
Virat Kohli
The India captain looked in sublime touch till the point he was stunned by a superb googly by Ish Sodhi. Kohli has been getting out between 50 and 70 of late, something he rarely did even till last year. In the absence of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli will have the added responsibility to score the big one.
Shreyas Iyer
India had to wait for 464 days for its number 4 to score an ODI hundred and it came from Shreyas Iyer’s bat. The kind of form and promise he had shown of late, it wasn’t a surprise, to be honest. Iyer will now look to continue his form the 2nd ODI in Auckland.
KL Rahul
A few former cricketers frowned when Kohli said Rahul would bat in the middle order during the ODI series but the wicket-keeper batsman proved them wrong by smashing strokefull 88 off just 64 balls. Rahul’s form in the middle order is important if India wish to bounce back take the ODI series.
Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav over Manish Pandey was a surprise call, even Jadhav’s fans would agree with that. But to the right-hander’s credit, he did justice to his selection by playing an important cameo (26 off 15 balls). It will be interesting to see if Kohli uses him as a bowler in the 2nd ODI in Auckland.
Ravindra Jadeja
Jadeja did not get an opportunity to bat but he was India’s most economical bowler after Bumrah in the first ODI. He also got the ball to grip and turn on a few occasions but was unlucky not to get a wicket. Jadeja is certain to play an important role even in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand.
Mohammed Shami
Shami was impressive in the patches in the first ODI. He gave away 64 runs in 9.1 overs and picked up 1 wicket. As a senior bowler, he would to look to pick more wickets in crunch situations.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Kuldeep Yadav was off-colour in Hamilton. He gave away 84 runs in the previous ODI – the third most by an Indian spinner. To be fair to Kuldeep, he was pretty good in the Australia series and there seems to be a Chahal for T20Is and Kuldeep for ODIs theory in the Indian side but Virat Kohli might want to revisit that strategy keeping the small boundaries of Auckland in mind and bring Chahal in place of Kuldeep.
Navdeep Saini
Navdeep Saini should be preferred over Shardul Thakur owing to his extra pace and the ability to pick up wickets both upfront with the new ball and then towards the end with his accurate yorkers. 80 runs in 9 overs – Shardul Thakur looked out of sorts, to say the least in the previous ODI. He became the 1st Indian to concede 80 or more runs in an ODI against New Zealand despite bowling less than 10 overs. So far, Shardul has been part of 9 ODIs for India and has bowled 6 innings out of 9 with the economy of above 6. Saini, on the other hand, gives another option in the death for Virat Kohli
Jasprit Bumrah
10 overs, 1 for 53 – Japrit Bumrah was easily the best bowler of the night in the 1st ODI. If anything, the No.1-ranked ODI bowler would look to pick up more wickets to help India apply pressure on the New Zealand batting-order in the 2nd ODI in Auckland.