Can Kiwis stop Indian juggernaut?
India had claimed the no. 1 ranking following their home series against Australia, but South Africa displaced them.
Mumbai: Team India will be keen to regain the top spot in ODI rankings as they take on New Zealand in the three-match series, starting at the Wankhede Stadium here from Sunday.
Virat Kohli & Co. have been in rampaging form this season as they thrashed the West Indies (3-1), Sri Lanka (5-0) and Australia (4-1) in the last three series. India had claimed the no. 1 ranking following their home series against Australia, but South Africa displaced them.
Kohli, however, is not worried about the numbers. “We don’t think of rankings. We want to play good cricket which is our main goal,” he said. Kohli will achieve a landmark on Sunday as the Mumbai match will be his 200th appearance in ODIs.
This will be the first series for India with the new ODI playing conditions. “There are a few rules which are very different. The batsman reaching the crease and after that the bat bouncing off being not out. The rule of umpires’ call in DRS. So there are a few rule changes which are quite interesting. There is one about catching as well. So I think guys will need awareness about the new rules. They are always difficult to keep a check on initially, but I think we all will get used to it,” Kohli said.
Ajinkya Rahane who scored half-centuries in his last four ODIs is set to make way for regular opener Shikhar Dhawan. It will be a toss-up between Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey for the no. 4 spot.
“In this series, Dinesh has come in for K. L. Rahul. As K.L. opens mostly, we don’t want him to play in the middle-order forcefully. So we thought it is better for K.L. to get some game time in the first-class level. Dinesh has always played in the middle order and is more comfortable and aware of how to bat in the middle order,” said Kohli.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has a tough task on his hands as the Kiwis look to stop the Indian juggernaut. New Zealand will be pinning their hopes on Martin Guptill and Colin Munro to fire at the top. Williamson and experienced Ross Taylor will be key in the middle overs to counter the spin threat for Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.