After registering a one-sided victory in the first ODI, Team India is looking forward to locking horns with New Zealand in the second ODI of the five-match series on January 26 at the Bay Oval, in Mount Maunganui. The Indian team is having a blast during their tour in the Southern Hemisphere. After the victorious tour of Australia, the team has crossed the Tasman sea to the cooler regions of New Zealand and won the first ODI convincingly.
The veteran Indian pacer, Mohammed Shami has been bowling some ferocious spells in the last few games as he picked up three wickets and will resume his new ball duty with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the next game as well. His opening spell allowed the young wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to take control of the game and both of them will once again be expected to feature in the playing XI.
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However, in their presence, Ravindra Jadeja might have to sit out given the success of Chahal and Kuldeep which will give Vijay Shankar an extended run in the squad, unless the flamboyant all-rounder, Hardik Pandya gets a game, who recently got provisionally free from his ban. But the current management is known to spring in a few surprises as was evidenced when Ambati Rayudu replaced Dinesh Karthik in the playing XI in Napier.
Rayudu remained unbeaten in the chase but hardly looked convincing in his short stint. He will have another chance on Saturday to prove his worth to the management as he has looked extremely rusty in the recent games.
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For New Zealand, the batting miserably collapsed and Kane Williamson is likely to treat the first ODI as a one-off and not make changes to the squad. But the bowling might see Ish Sodhi return to the playing XI given the dimensions of Bay Oval is bigger than McLean Park.
Predicted XIs of both the teams:
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (WK), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar/ Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal
