3 Indian players who flopped in the 1st ODI vs New Zealand
Team India continued their perfect start to the new calendar year in the 50-over format as they beat New Zealand by 12 runs in the first ODI on Wednesday, January 18.
Opener Shubman Gill was the star of the show for the Men in Blue as he smashed a stellar century to almost single-handedly take the team to 349/8. Mohammed Siraj led the way in the bowling department once again, scalping four wickets in his hometown.
However, others failed to deliver. On that note, here are three Indian players who flopped in the first ODI against New Zealand.
#3 Ishan Kishan
With KL Rahul missing the series, Ishan Kishan slotted into the middle order as the wicket-keeper. As a left-hander, he was deployed at No. 4 to counter the threat posed by Mitchell Santner. Unfortunately, though, the southpaw failed to come up with the goods.
Kishan lasted 14 balls at the crease, making five runs. An away-angler from Lockie Ferguson kissed the edge of his bat before settling into the hands of counterpart Tom Latham. The youngster was dismissed in the 20th over with the score reading 110 as he missed out on an excellent chance to make a statement.
Kishan had scored a double century in his previous ODI, and while he performed a different role this time around, he failed to carry his form forward.
#2 Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli came into this game on the back of a Player of the Series performance against Sri Lanka. The No. 3 batter had hammered two hundreds in three games, including a spectacular 166* only three days ago. But in his first outing of the series against New Zealand, he was beaten all ends up.
How Kohli would handle Santner was a major talking point even before the game, and the batter failed to step up to the task. He camped on the back foot to a delivery he should've pressed forward to counter, getting beaten on the outside edge and having his stumps disturbed. The 34-year-old walked back for just eight runs.
Kohli has been dismissed in this very fashion far too often over the last few years. He really needs to sort out his game against spin, which has deteriorated majorly. That doesn't bode well for Team India, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy looming large.
#1 Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya was unlucky to be given out, with Tom Latham appearing to disturb the bails with his gloves. However, the nature of his dismissal aside, the all-rounder turned in an atrocious performance.
Hardik labored to 28 runs off 38 balls as he found the boundary only thrice, with two of those being ungainly edges behind the stumps. His batting, especially his hitting, has looked horribly unconvincing in the recent past. That wasn't even the worst part of his display, though.
Hardik bowled seven overs, leaking 70 runs. He repeatedly pitched the ball short and was dispatched to all corners of the ground by the Kiwi batters, who knew what to expect. Even though there was some help on offer off the surface, the 29-year-old was intent on banging the ball into the pitch, a strategy that reaped no rewards.
Hardik bowled two tight overs at the death and also tempted Ferguson into an ill-advised big shot. But on the whole, the vice-captain should've done way better.