image source, YEARS
India beat New Zealand by 90 runs to win the series 3-0 in Indore. Also ICC The Indian team also took the top spot in the ODI rankings.
India are at the top of the ICC rankings with 114 points, followed by England at the second position with 113 points, Australia at the third position with 112 points and New Zealand at the fourth position with 111 points.
This win is special in many ways. First, a 3-0 win against New Zealand was no easy feat. But in all these matches India won hugely.
New Zealand beat India in the 2019 World Cup and finished second.
Before coming to India, New Zealand toured Pakistan and beat Babar Azam’s team 2-1 in 3 matches. The Black Caps (New Zealand) came to India with high hopes. But a 3-0 defeat in ODIs dampened the team’s motivation.
On the other hand, India beat Sri Lanka 3-0 and then beat the mighty Kiwis.
Winning 6 matches in a row at home has given the Indian team a boost. As pundits often say that winning is a habit, the Indian team also tried to make it a habit.
With this victory, the team’s confidence has also increased to win the title in the World Cup to be held in India this year.
You need to win 7-8 games to win a series like World Cup. So this result is a good practice for India, said Indian captain Rohit Sharma.
Subman Gill action
image source, YEARS
Subman Gill’s return to form has been India’s biggest prize in the series. He has scored 3 centuries in the last 4 matches and has performed well. He has created a new record by scoring 360 runs in 3 matches in this series.
His average in these 3 matches is 180. His 208 in the first match contributed a lot. Great timing is seen in Gill’s batting. Former New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said he didn’t just use force.
Both Gill and Rohit understand each other well and play a great pair. This can be seen from the shots they play and the places they choose between fielders.
The fact that Subman Gill’s strike rate continues to improve is good not only for him but also for the Indian team.
In this series, his strike rate is 129. Very few players can achieve this in ODI cricket.
Another century by Rohit
image source, YEARS
Rohit Sharma after scoring a century in the third ODI.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma has scored a century in this match after scoring a half-century in the last match.
In Indore, Rohit Sharma scored 101 runs off 85 balls with 6 sixes and 9 fours.
It was his 30th century in ODIs. With this, he equaled Ricky Ponting as the highest century scorer.
Rohit said after the match that this century was very important for him. Because even though he was batting well, he was craving for 3-figure scores.
During the commentary, Sanjay Manjrekar also praised Rohit. Rohit batted fast in his natural style, which he said was a good sign.
Hope the other batsmen will also play well
image source, YEARS
Barring Gill and Rohit Sharma’s batting, no other top-order batsman played a big innings in the series.
Hardik Pandya is the third highest run-scorer in this series with 82 runs in 2 innings.
Batsmen like Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan averaged 22 runs or less in the series. This can be called a disappointing performance. Because if Shubham Gill’s runs were removed from India’s score, India would have lost all the matches.
Virat Kohli scored 2 centuries in the last series. At the same time, he managed to score only 55 runs in 3 innings against the Kiwis.
Suryakumar Yadav’s highest score in this series is 31. Ishan Kishan scored a total of 30 runs in 3 innings. All three batsmen have been in excellent form before this series and the Indian team will be hoping that they can return to big scores soon.
Siraj became the main weapon
image source, YEARS
Shubham Gill’s runs in this series represent his best performance. The player who played the most important role with him was Mohammad Siraj. He took 5 wickets in two matches. And he bowled wickets at a time when the team needed wickets.
The good thing about Siraj is that he has been taking wickets in all formats be it Test, T20, ODI. He has brought a lot of improvement in his game. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, the team has handled the bowling well.
His place in the World Cup squad is almost assured as he has bowled very effectively in the Indian pitching conditions.
Kuldeep kept his faith in himself
image source, YEARS
Kuldeep Yadav averages 5.46 runs per over. He took 6 wickets in the series. Captain Rohit Sharma was also happy with his performance. He also said that the more matches a finger-spinner plays, the better his bowling will improve.
It’s a good sign if the team management thinks so too. Because despite a brilliant performance, it is often seen that Kuldeep’s name comes first when a player has to be dropped from the team.
Apart from Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Sehal also played well. He only got a chance to play in the last race. In that he took 2 wickets for 43 runs.
All the Indian bowlers took wickets in this series. The biggest thing is that India completely outplayed the Kiwis in all the matches. This is a sign of strong bowling.
The search for an all-rounder
image source, YEARS
Washington Sundar was tested as an all-rounder in this series. After Ravindra Jadeja was injured last year, Axar Patel was included in the fielding team. And he was strong in both batting and bowling.
Indian selectors need a backup all-rounder. So Sundar got a chance in this series.
Sundar scored 21 runs in 2 innings in ODIs. His highest score is 12. And he bowled in 3 innings and took 2 wickets. Being more defensive in bowling is good for T20. But it is weak in ODIs.
Accordingly, this series was moderate for Sundar. So it must not have given Axar Patel sleepless nights.
Shardul Thakur shows magic
image source, YEARS
Meanwhile Shardul Thakur is also seen as an all-rounder. His chances are few. But he made the most of those opportunities.
Even in the last match in Indore he gave a good partnership first with Hardik Pandya. He showed his prowess with the bat by scoring 25 runs off 17 balls.
After that, he took 3 wickets of the Kiwi team and paved the way for the Indian team to win.
What makes Shardul special is that he always likes to take wickets. However his average is 6 runs per over. It’s too much. But he continues to give the team breakthroughs. In this series, he took 6 wickets in 3 innings.
Captain Rohit Sharma also praised Thakur well. He said that people in the team call Shardul a magician.
At the same time, the team’s all-rounder Hardik Pandya contributed with both bat and ball. He bowled long spells in all three matches. This is good news for the team. Because he was slowly increasing his bowling responsibilities after the injury.
Hardik was happy with his bowling. “After coming back from injury, my bowling action has become much straighter than before. Because of this I can now swing the ball from both sides,” he said after the match.
Overall it proved to be a good series for India. This has further boosted the morale of the team.
India, who are the number one team in T20I in the ICC rankings, have now become the number one team in ODIs as well.
India will also be looking to top the Test rankings by winning the series against Australia in India next month.
BBC Tamil on Social Media: