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Indians need a solid start against Kiwis

The hosts have just come off a closely fought ODI series against the West Indies where they managed to finish on the winning side. The West Indies are a lot more competitive as an ODI team than in the Test arena and the results were not surprising.

New Zealand will now face off against India, who are a very, very strong outfit. India may have lost the ODI series in South Africa in a one-sided contest but I can bet you that the young players have gained a lot from that tour. It’s a common syndrome that the teams come out stronger after tough tours and hopefully the young Indian side has learnt a lot from it.

It will be very interesting to see how the wickets turn out and India will have to play their game accordingly. They lost too many wickets early on in South Africa and hence have been out of the game very quickly and will need to change that. The top three will have to approach batting differently in these conditions and we will wait and see how much Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have learnt from their failures in South Africa. India doesn’t need a flying start but a solid one, and need wickets in hand in the last 35 overs to get themselves in to winning position. The grounds in New Zealand are not that big and there will be value for runs at the end.

It will be important to see the combination with which India get on to the park. The good form of Ajinkya Rahane in South Africa must have given him a lot of confidence and he will provide a lot of solidity in the middle-order especially at number four and this will allow MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina to bat freely when the ball goes old.

It will be also interesting to see if Dhoni goes with Stuart Binny at number eight as he can also bowl a bit, and if there is grass on the pitch his bowling will come handy in those conditions. Ravindra Jadeja, with his performance in the Test matches in South Africa, will be Dhoni’s first choice if one spinner plays but it’s a call he will have to take after looking at the surface.

The Black Caps are a strong side at home. The inclusion and the form of Jesse Ryder will be a bonus to New Zealand and his record against India is very, very good. New Zealand bat deep and it’s going to be a good contest between both sides. There has been a lot of talk about Adam Milne, a young tearaway fast bowler. I will be looking forward to watching him. He did play a game in India but bowling in India and bowling in New Zealand are two different ball games.