Seeking a victory in the must-win encounter at Eden Park, Captain Virat Kohli made a couple of surprising changes that left many stunned. He announced a rest for pacer Mohammed Shami and kept Kuldeep Yadav out of playing XI, the reason for which didn’t impress many. Starting from Shami, Kohli said that he has been rested to keep him fit for the Test series that starts later this month.
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The reason was a surprising one as Shami has been the key wicket-taker for India in white-ball cricket and should have been in the playing XI considering that it’s a must-win game for the visiting team. But they rested him for Navdeep Saini.
‘We will bowl first. Pretty hard wicket, the new-ball might do a bit, smaller ground, short straight boundaries and it’s difficult to defend. Need to bowl well, put the pressure on their batsmen and take some early wickets. Need to bring the intensity we had in the T20Is into the 50-over game. Two changes for us – Mohammed Shami has been rested (keeping in mind the upcoming Tests), Navdeep Saini is in. Yuzvendra Chahal replaces Kuldeep, he hasn’t played an ODI for a while, wanted to get him into the team,” Kohli said at the toss.
Shami bowled a spell of 9.1-0-63-1 in the opening ODI. It remains to be seen if Team India manages to do the job in the absence of 2019’s highest wicket-taker (in ODIs).
Shardul Thakur kept his in the playing XI but he was expected to play as the team management has been adopting the policy of backing pacers in the absence of regulars. He played all five T20Is and should also keep his spot for the third ODI as well – Shardul isn’t a part of the Test squad.
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Talking of Kuldeep, his absence from the playing XI almost confirms that he now might get dropped from the limited-overs team as well. He hasn’t been given regular chances since 2019 and has lost the mystery factor since IPL 2019. The Chinaman bowler has already been dropped from the Test team.
There was no rest for Jasprit Bumrah but he is expected to be rested for the third ODI, irrespective of the result of the second ODI. He has played six games on the trot and is currently playing his seventh match on the tour. Bumrah has just come back from a back issue and might be rested to keep him fresh for the Test series.
New Zealand are 108/1 after 20 overs in the ongoing second ODI.