In the ongoing five-match series between India and New Zealand, India’s fortunes have been very much dependent on Virat Kohli. Out of the first four matches, India have won two and Kohli clicked in both the matches. In the first ODI, he remained unbeaten on 85 to take India home while in the third ODI, he played a majestic knock of 154 to give India a 2-1 lead in the series. However, his failure to score big in the other two ODIs played a major role in deciding the outcome of the match as India were on losing side on both the occasions.
With speculations rising that the team is becoming a one-man team, former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly does not agree with it and said that there are enough match-winners in the team who have the ability to take India home.
“That’s why Virat Kohli is such a great player. Every time he gets a hundred, even in the last game he got 154 not out, India win the game. I don’t know what would have happened if Ross Taylor would have taken that catch. India 60/3 in Mohali with new batsman in and anything could have happened. But I think there are other match winners in the side who have won India games,” Ganguly told India Today.
One of the biggest reasons for India’s not so impressive performance in this series is the failure of opening batsman Rohit Sharma. The right-handed batsman is one of the batting mainstays of the team in this team but he has found it tough to get going in the series. Dhoni’s failure to score some quick runs in the middle-overs is another reason. The Indian skipper scored 11 runs off 31 balls in the last ODI at Ranchi.
Ganguly said that India should avoid playing on turning pitches because of too many youngsters in the team.
“Rohit Sharma has been off-colour this series and hasn’t got runs. MS at No. 4, he got stuck on a poor surface. He struggles against left-arm spinners on turning pitches. When the ball goes away from him, he finds it difficult to rotate the strike. If you look at the strike rate, it’s different for MS Dhoni. One thing India have to understand that when you have young players in the side with the likes of Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey you have to play on good surfaces. India are a much stronger side on good surfaces than on turning pitches,” he added.
The retired batsman also said that the visitors have a better understanding of pitches than the hosts. After being whitewashed in the Test series, the Kiwis have responded well in the ODI series and Ganguly opined that they have played better on turning pitches than India.
“Got to give credit to New Zealand. They played very well, they read the wicket better than India. Dew hasn’t had any effect in the series, whether it’s in Delhi or Mohali or here (Ranchi). They have defended well, their bowlers bowled outstandingly. It’s a new Indian batting line-up. Once Dhoni and Virat get out quickly, there’s lot of pressure on the middle order.
“New Zealand have reacted to turning pitches a lot better than India did.”