The Holkar Stadium pitch in Indore promises lots of runs for Sunday’s India-New Zealand ODI series decider. Usually a belter, it isn’t expected to behave differently.
Such a batsman-friendly surface implies how harder the task could get for bowlers of both India and New Zealand, as their margin of error becomes even more minimal. Still, with greater experience and better credentials on the whole, India should be having an edge over New Zealand, though the visitors are in a much better frame of mind, having restored parity in a tricky chase in Rajkot.
For sure, the largely inexperienced New Zealand bowling group fared better in the second ODI in Rajkot than they did in the series opener in Vadodara. They couldn’t
quite control centurion KL Rahul’s runs, but did make sure Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were unable to do any damage as such.
Now, the Rajkot wicket had a kind of slowness in it, something that’s unlikely to be there at the Holkar Stadium, which has smaller boundaries as well. Such conditions certainly enhance the prospects of both Kohli and Rohit taking this Black Caps attack to the sword and coming up with big knocks. A flatter surface will only be making the former India captains happier, not just strokeplay-wise, but also as they can then pace their game accordingly.
If both of them fire on Sunday and India clinch the series, the two would be happy they have done their bit to stay relevant in India’s ODI scheme of things. The World Cup is quite some time away, in 2027, but every small bit helps.
From India’s point of view, they would certainly wish to bowl first as batting under lights becomes even easier. And New Zealand do have the wherewithal in their batting to take on India’s bowlers.
Whether they bowl first or second, India’s bowlers must step up in the team’s bid to win yet another home series instead of leaving the bulk of the work on the Shubman
Gills and Rahuls. In the current situation, Mohammed Siraj’s first spell assumes greater importance.
With Harshit Rana performing reasonably well with the new ball, early inroads from Siraj would make matters easier for the rest of the Indian bowlers. Besides, in the middle overs and at the death, Siraj is capable of striking as well as keeping batters quiet, which he had shown in the first ODI.
If pacer Arshdeep Singh is chosen in place of the erratic Prasidh Krishna, the left-armer’s angles and precision might give India an edge.
Spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja haven’t had a great series so far. For Jadeja, though, the Indians feel “just one wicket” will help regain the left-arm spinner all-rounder his rhythm.
“... Don’t think there is any concern about Jadeja’s form. It is just a matter of one wicket. Once he gets that breakthrough, you will see a different bowler altogether,” Siraj said on Saturday.
What do India do about Nitish Kumar Reddy? Should they drop the seamer all-rounder after a lone game, or bring in Ayush Badoni to make use of his part-time off-spin? That’s a tricky call.
