The New Zealand cricket team is set to clash against the invincible Indian cricket team for the 1st ODI on February 18 (Wednesday). New Zealand is missing quite a few players in the form of Trent Boult & Jimmy Neeham who have preferred franchise cricket rather than the national cricket team.
India has taken a huge blow as Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out of the series due to a back injury. Shreyas has scored points on a consistent basis for the past 1 year. The batsman surprisingly had a chaotic Sri Lanka ODI Series where he was unable to convert the start.
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Tom Latham on squad
Tom Latham was present at the pre-game press conference and was asked about the squad. “They (Boult, Southee, Williamson) are not in the flank and that leaves a huge gap for us. On the other hand, it offers an opportunity for other guys who have been in the squad. Everyone has played international cricket in the squad which is a bonus. It’s their turn to step up. Fortunately we have Lockie Ferguson who has played a lot of cricket in India. said Tom Latham.
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Steep task ahead for New Zealand
As skipper Tom Latham said, their team looks a bit fragile. A lot will depend on how Tom Latham performs as he will need to ensure he plays long and effective innings for the team. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Men in Blue are strong favorites for the ODI Series, given that all players have chipped.
India should not take New Zealand lightly as they have a habit of finding match winners on any given day which makes them a dangerous unit. It will come as no surprise if the field in Hyderabad is batting friendly as we have witnessed high scoring thrillers so far.
Also Read: IND vs NZ: “The risk rate rises to 90 percent” – Sunil Gavaskar on the comparison between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh pants | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah
