India vs New Zealand 2nd ODI: India look to seal ODI series | Cricket News – Times of India

RAIPUR: “In Chhattisgarh, we say ‘jai johar.’ Can you say that for us, please?” It was a request by a media person which left Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, looking to answer questions around cricket on the eve of the game, completely puzzled.
Welcome to Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, which will stage its maiden international game and become the country’s landmark 50th ODI venue when India take on New Zealand in the second ODI at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Saturday night. A sellout crowd of 50,000 spectators is expected.
India have some white-ball issues to sort out before they dive into the much-awaited four-Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February-March. There is, after all, an ODI World Cup later in the year, and every game will give the team some answers about the ideal team combination.

Flying high on Shubman Gill’s sublime form with the bat and Mohammed Siraj’s sizzling touch with the ball, the Men in Blue will still be looking to iron out a few critical flaws from their game. Their bowlers have looked vulnerable, especially in the second half of the innings. India took a 1-0 lead in Hyderabad after surviving a brutal assault at the hands of Michael Bracewell. The team management will be worried about the bowlers’ inability to close out games after having a foot on the opposition’s throat.

Shubman Gill (IANS Photo)
On December 4 last year in Mirpur, while defending 186, India had reduced Bangladesh to 136/9 by the 40th over before tailenders Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman added 51 for the 10th wicket to help the hosts pull of an incredible win.

In Hyderabad, having scored 349, India looked to be heading for a big win when they reduced the Kiwis to 131/6 in the 29th over. At that point, the visitors needed another 206 runs in a 350-run chase. However, a blistering 140 off just 78 balls by Bracewell again showed that India are shaky when it comes to defending totals on batting-friendly pitches.
“When you play international cricket, all teams tend to perform well against you. You will be tested. I don’t agree that we don’t defend well. We have defended totals in the past too. There’ll be games like the first ODI, where the surface was very good. We scored 350, and we expected them to score runs too. “The good thing is that we won. We learnt a lot from that game. We will implement those things in this game. We’ve noticed a few things which we will look to improve,” bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said.

TOI Photo
“The good thing is that we won. We learnt a lot from that game. We will implement those things in this game. We’ve noticed a few things which we will look to improve,” bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said.
India would want their star allrounder and vice-captain Hardik Pandya to step up with the ball.
In the first ODI, Pandya went for 1-70 in 7 overs. Ditto for off-spinner Washington Sundar, who, having been in and out of the team in recent times, looked rusty as he conceded 0-50 in 7 overs.
With the Kiwis having four-left-handers, Sundar needs to make the most of playing in Axar’s place.
Meanwhile, in Devon Conway and Finn Allen, New Zealand have dangerous openers. Tom Latham can slay the spinners easily while Glenn Phillips recently smashed an unbeaten 63 off 42 balls to help the Kiwis chase down 281 to win the third ODI against Pakistan in Karachi