New Zealand vs India 2014: Weak links in India's ODI side

Team India are indeed the no.1 ranked ODI side in world cricket at the moment, but if things don’t quite go to plan for MS Dhoni and co., and they lose the limited-overs series against New Zealand, they are sure to surrender the summit position in the ICC one-day rankings.

From New Zealand’s perspective, the home side has every reason to be confident of earning a major incentive by defeating India.

Here are the reasons why I’d say, New Zealand stand a good chance of upsetting Team India, who are certain to be jittery to start off with.

Ravichandran Ashwin could be targeted

Ravichandran Ashwin hasn’t had an enviable couple of months, during which he was taken to the cleaners by George Bailey’s Australian side, which toured India during October-November 2013, and had a forgettable tour of South Africa right at the end of 2013, where his bowling figures in the 3-match ODI series read 28-0-169-1.

Must be low on confidence, and should be New Zealand’s target to put pressure on MS Dhoni and other Indian bowlers!

Now, New Zealand doesn’t have players like Hashim Amla, Quinton De Kock, George Bailey or, for that matter Glenn Maxwell, who didn’t fear going aerial against Ashwin, and succeeded in their bid to do so.

But, if the likes of Brendon Mccullum and Ross Taylor can follow such a blue-print, which paid dividends for both Australia and South Africa and go after Ashwin, they could give MS Dhoni some serious problems during the middle overs.

Traditionally, Dhoni likes to accommodate just 4 specialist bowlers in the playing XI, and use his part-time bowlers to fill in for the 5th bowlers’ spot. But if Ashwin is going to disappear for runs, Dhoni might have to think of making up to 15 overs from his part-timers and New Zealand could feast upon those toothless overs.

Brittle Indian middle-order

Lack of runs from the Indian middle order in the recent past should be a cause of concern for the Indian think-tank. New Zealand could benefit from the fact that Suresh Raina will be under pressure to score runs, in Ajinkya Rahane, there’s going to be a certain degree of naivety to his game still, and if you take MS Dhoni out of the equation, there isn’t an established name, who could do the job of a reliable middle-order batsman.

Onus will be on these two to stabilize the innings in case of a shaky start!

If New Zealand can pick up a couple of early wickets, especially that of Virat Kohli, this Indian middle order could be tested. I have a staunch feeling that the current Indian top 3, to go with MS Dhoni, stand in between New Zealand winning and losing this upcoming ODI series.

This could be a signature factor in defining the way this ODI series between New Zealand and India pans out.

The final touches

Adding to the aforementioned factors, Team India might continue to be over-reliant on their batting, and consequently lose focus on doing a good job with the ball. So, if New Zealand can strike a balance with their approach, which gives them the freedom of going after the Indian bowlers with the bat, and put the squeeze on the Indian top 3 with the ball, this ODI series could be up for grabs.

Rest assured!

Team India needs to be diligent!