India’s demoralizing batting display in the Hamilton ODI against New Zealand was a serious wake-up call. Trent Boult wreaked havoc with the ball in his hand for Rohit Sharm and his men as the visitors were bundled out for a meager score of 92, their lowest total in an ODI in New Zealand as they were hammered by eight wickets. The poor display of the Indian batsmen prompted many Indian cricket team fans to state the team missed Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.
While Kohli is currently enjoying his break for the rest of the tour as the BCCI looks to manage his workload, Dhoni suffered a hamstring injury. However, there is good news as Dhoni has been passed fit for the fifth and final ODI which will be played in Wellington on Sunday and the news was confirmed by assistant coach Sanjay Bangar.
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Dhoni’s presence in the Indian team for the game at the Westpac stadium in Wellington will be a welcome boost for Rohit’s side which missed Dhoni’s experience and stability lower down the order. In the middle order, the likes of Ambati Rayudu (0), Kedar Jadhav (1) and Dinesh Karthik (0) were sent back by Boult and it took knocks of 16, 15 and 18 from Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal to help India avoid major embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Dhoni who had the worst year of his career in 2018 in terms of his batting, stormed back to form right from the start of 2019. He scored three consecutive half-centuries against Australia guiding his team to their first-ever bilateral series win Down Under. Moreover, he also won the man of the series award much to the relief of the Indian team management ahead of the showpiece event.
Currently, Team India is having a 3-1 lead in the five-match series and they have sealed a series win in New Zealand for the first time in 10 years. India would be hoping to win the final game in order to gain some momentum for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 which will be played in England. On the other hand, a win for Kane Williamson’s New Zealand side will give them plenty of respectability after being thoroughly outplayed in the first three ODIs.
