3 positives for India from their World Cup 2023 win against New Zealand
Team India seem to be running away with the 'favorites' tag in the 2023 World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Co., who came into the tournament with a few unanswered questions, have brushed aside opposition with ease so far.
With five wins from five matches, India are at the very top of the points table. Their win over New Zealand on Sunday, which took them to the summit, was arguably their best so far in the World Cup as they had to keep fighting hard through tricky passages of play.
The Men in Blue came out on top, though, and will take heart from the manner of their victory. They have a week's gap before their Lucknow meeting against England and will be buoyed by a performance that had quite a few takeaways.
Here are three positives for Team India from their World Cup 2023 win against New Zealand.
#3 The openers saw off New Zealand's new-ball bowlers in challenging conditions
The moment the schedule for the 2023 World Cup was announced, fans of the Indian team immediately penciled in the New Zealand clash as one that would be a real test. Dharamsala is known to assist fast bowlers more than other venues in the country, and the scars of the 2019 World Cup semifinal were still fresh in everyone's memory.
India's openers passed the test, although they had to go through quite a bit to come out on top. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were beaten on several occasions by Matt Henry and Trent Boult, with the former in particular troubling the Indian openers with his swing and seam.
Rohit resorted to dancing down the track and essaying attacking strokes, while Gill blocked out the tough periods before attempting to find boundaries later on in his innings. And in a massive positive, India got through the powerplay, under the lights, at Dharamsala, against New Zealand, without losing a wicket.
#2 India managed to pull things back even though Kuldeep Yadav had an off day
Kuldeep Yadav has been at the forefront of India's ODI bowling over the last two years. The left-arm wrist-spinner's control and wicket-taking ability in the middle overs have been one of Rohit Sharma's biggest turn-to weapons, even in the ongoing World Cup.
Kuldeep, however, had an off day against New Zealand. As Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell looked to throw him off his lengths by attacking him, he conceded 48 runs in his first five overs.
Despite that, though, India did decently enough in the middle overs. Kuldeep himself must take some credit for that as he came back well in the second half of his spell, picking up two wickets while significantly improving his economy rate.
But the main reason why India were able to survive Kuldeep's poor start was the performance of their fast-bowling trio, who bowled superbly at all stages of the innings. Ravindra Jadeja did his bit as well, ensuring that the side managed to restrict New Zealand to a defendable total despite their star wrist-spinner's profligacy.
Speaking of Jadeja...
#1 Ravindra Jadeja's knock helped India move towards ticking off another box
India have now ticked off most boxes in their batting lineup, with Jadeja's useful cameo that took the team over the line being the latest addition to the list.
The southpaw had been in terrible batting form in ODIs for quite a bit, and even his knock against the Blackcaps didn't necessarily assuage all of India's concerns in that regard. Nevertheless, he hung in there under pressure and hit a few important boundaries to take some of the load off Virat Kohli at the other end.
If Jadeja can contribute regularly with the bat, India will have a batting unit that is firing on all cylinders. It will also give them the confidence to play Mohammed Shami ahead of Shardul Thakur at No. 8.