As the 5-match ODI series between India and New Zealand comes to an end, we have been treated to a cricket series where no team was able to assert complete dominance over the other.
Neither of the teams crossed the 300 mark while batting – a rarity in modern day cricket, especially in the subcontinent and both batsmen as well as bowlers made match-winning contributions.
In short, the just concluded ODI series between India and New Zealand was a tightly fought one that maintained a perfect balance between bat and ball. Eventually, India were able to clinch the series after New Zealand’s fight tapered off during the final ODI.
At the end of this thoroughly entertaining series, we take a look at five standout performers from the series
# 1 Amit Mishra
In the absence of the rested spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as well as pacers Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra took to the mantle of lead spinner and enjoyed great success, finishing as the top wicket-taker of the series.
It’s unfortunate for a bowler of his class to have played only 36 ODIs in the 13 years since debut having - perhaps unfairly - fallen down the pecking order from time to time.The leggie is a genuine wicket taker like any spinner of his kind, though his less than stellar fielding capabilities may have hampered his chances in shorter formats.
Given a shot this time around, he made full use of the opportunity to lead India’s bowling attack and his greatest weapon – deception in flight and turn - was on display in this series. Throughout the series, he never allowed the New Zealand middle order - especially the duo of Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor whose key wickets he picked twice and thrice respectively - to get away with the game.
His overall tally of 15 wickets is the second best by an Indian bowler in a five-match ODI series, next to his own record of 18 wickets against Zimbabwe in 2013. Mishra signed off in style, wrapping up the Kiwis and the series in quick time for India with figures of 5/18 in the final ODI at Visakhapatnam, and will have given enough food for thought to the selectors for the next time they sit together to pick the ODI squad.
#2 Virat Kohli
If Mishra was the star with the ball, it was the Test captain Virat Kohli who shouldered a major share of the batting responsibilities in the series. Chasing 190 in the first ODI, his unbeaten innings of 85 saw India make merry of the low target and win without much worry. He won the ‘Jana Bankable Player’ Award for the same.
He rarely fails while chasing, but the law of averages caught up with him for once, in the second ODI at his home ground Delhi, and the rest of the batsmen failed to take the team through for a change.
However, a stiff target of 286 again brought out the best of Kohli in the third ODI. The innings of 154* at Mohali was a clinical effort stamped with his class written all over it - a batting equivalent of Mishra’s 5 wicket display at Vizag - that helped India coast to an easy seven-wicket victory.
He continued his rich vein of form into the final two ODIs with scores of 45 and 65 and finished the series as the highest run-getter, with an aggregate of 385 runs at an average of 119.33 and strike rate of 100.84.
#3 Kedar Jadhav
Between Kohli’s batting mastery and Mishra’s bowling wizardry lies an understated all-round performance that deserves special mention; that of Kedar Jadhav, who contributed with the bat and surprisingly, with the ball too. His performances in statistical terms, may not sound earth shattering at first glance. But, it demands a deeper look.
For all the world knew of him before this series, Jadhav was a middle order batsman who could play those quick cameos down the order and also double up as a wicketkeeper if the situation required it.
His bowling was an unknown entity - a wicket each in all first-class and List A cricket being his only stake to claim otherwise - before he started rolling his arms over in this series.In the end, he ended up bowling a total of 18 overs - picking wickets almost every time he was given the ball - for 6 wickets at a mere 12.16 apiece.
In the lost cause in Delhi, he was the only batsman who showed some fight and hit a breezy 41 off 37 balls. On a dry surface that kept getting slower and difficult for run-making as the game progressed, Jadhav’s unbeaten knock of 39 at Visakhapatnam – once again a fluent knock in difficult circumstances - was crucial in pushing India’s total well past the 250 mark.
#4 Tom Latham
Though the ODI series was keenly contested, it was the bowlers who won matches for the Kiwis while their batting continued to be plagued by the issues that hurt them in the Test series, with the exception of opener Tom Latham.
The left-handed batsman came into the ODI series with the reputation of having scored a 50 in every single Test on the tour, starting from the tour match against Mumbai.He carried this form into the ODI series, finishing behind Kohli as the 2nd highest run-getter, with an aggregate of 244 runs at an average of 61 and strike rate of 89.37 – appreciable, because he is not a naturally aggressive batsman and his runs came off pure cricketing shots.
During the course of his 79* in the first ODI, he became the first Kiwi and only the 10th overall to carry his bat through the innings. Despite the repeated failures of Guptill at the other end, Latham continued to give good starts to the team in every match.
The 24-year-old’s consistent performances at the top of the order will be the biggest plus the Kiwis take away from their disappointing tour.
#5 Tim Southee
His stats in this series - 7 scalps at about 37 runs per wicket and 77 runs at an average of 19.25 – may not sound exceptional. But, from the Kiwi perspective, Tim Southee was a notable performer who delivered crucial contributions every time they needed him to.
He notched up his first ODI fifty in the opening match at Dharamsala – a brisk 55 in his 100th ODI – at a time when the Kiwis were in deep trouble and required someone to not only stay with the stubborn Latham but also pile on enough runs to give themselves a respectable score to defend.
With the ball, he contributed heavily in both the matches that New Zealand won. In the second ODI at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi, Southee picked 3 wickets, including a brilliant catch off his own bowling to send back a well-set Dhoni, who was looking to take the game to safety after a batting collapse.
At Ranchi, he picked Rohit Sharma early in the innings and also came back later to dismiss Manish Pandey and Kedhar Jadhav off successive deliveries, a performance for which he was declared the Jana Bankable Player.
His bowling partnerships with Trent Boult with the new ball denied India good starts from Rohit and Rahane, both of whom had a disappointing series.
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