India suffered a historic shock on Sunday, January 18, as they lost the ODI series to New Zealand on home soil for the first time since 1988. The Blackcaps won the third ODI by 41 runs at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, registering a 2–1 series win and their first ODI series win on Indian soil after eight attempts.
After winning the toss in Indore, the hosts gave the visitors a huge score of 337/8. Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips scored centuries after taking three early wickets. India could not get close to the target in this winning match. The Men in Blue will play their next ODI series later this year in July.
India’s performance in recent ODI matches was mixed. While Virat Kohli and KL Rahul put in memorable performances, many others struggled to make an impact. Due to the ODI series against England in the next six months, some players may be dropped.
5 names are in danger for India’s next ODI series
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja faced a tough defeat in the ODI series against New Zealand, due to which questions are being raised about his future in this format. He scored only 43 runs in three innings and failed to take a wicket despite bowling 23 overs.
Jadeja also struggled to control the ball in the middle overs. In the decisive ODI, he conceded 41 runs without any success in six overs, allowing batsmen like Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips to score freely.
His batting returns of 4, 27, and 12 showed a clear decline in effectiveness. Due to the weakening of both bat and ball, there is a possibility that Ravindra Jadeja may have already played his last ODI.
Ayush Badoni and Dhruv Jurel
Ayush Badoni was included after Washington Sundar was out after the first ODI. However, Badoni was not included in the playing eleven for the second and third matches, as the team management preferred Nitish Kumar Reddy as a batting all-rounder.
Dhruv Jurel was brought into the squad in place of Rishabh Pant, who suffered a side strain while batting in the nets. Jurel joined the team before the first ODI of the series.
Since Badoni and Jurel were only added as injury replacements, it is unlikely that they will retain places in the squad for the next ODI series, which is six months away.
Nitish Kumar Reddy and Prasidh Krishna
Nitish Kumar Reddy joined the playing eleven in the second ODI and scored 20 runs while bowling just two overs. In the series decider, India used him more with the ball and gave him eight overs.
Reddy scored his maiden ODI half-century and formed an important partnership with Virat Kohli. However, he could not perform well with the ball and did not get any wickets in the 10 overs he played in the series.
Prasidh Krishna played the first two ODIs before Arshdeep Singh but failed to impress. He took three wickets in both the matches at an average of 36.33 and an economy rate of 6.05.
Prasidh took figures of 2/60 in the first ODI and 1/49 in the second match in Vadodara. After this, India dropped him for the decisive match in Indore and brought Arshdeep back into the team.
Also read: Sunil Gavaskar angry, blames “certain people” for India’s humiliating defeat in ODI series against New Zealand
