"The weather gods saved India" - Sunil Gavaskar on New Zealand ODIs

Sunil Gavaskar feels rain helped India avoid a routing in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand.

The Men in Blue lost the three-match series by a 1-0 marginal. They lost the first game by seven wickets while the next two ODIs did not yield a result due to rain.

In his column for the Times of India, Gavaskar highlighted that India's batting frailties came to the fore in seamer-friendly conditions, elaborating:

"The weather gods saved India from what could have been a total rout in the three-match ODI series in New Zealand. What the series showed is that when it comes to pitches where there is movement or extra bounce, the Indian batters continue to be challenged, just like earlier generations."

The former Indian captain pointed out that the batters had to play an attacking game and could not have waited for loose deliveries in the limited-overs format, explaining:

"In Test-match cricket there are opportunities to show gumption and technique and come through it with some bruises and runs to show for the effort. But in One-day cricket, where there is the need to make every ball count for something, the opportunity to wait for the scoreable delivery is much less."

Gavaskar added that the visitors were also without some of their established senior players, observing:

"The batters are looking to do something out of the box, so to speak, and if that works then there will be runs. If it doesn't work, there won't be much to show on the scoresheet. Also, the Indians were without some of their finest batters, who were given a break. The younger lot was exposed on those pitches."

Shreyas Iyer (129), Shubman Gill (108), and Shikhar Dhawan (103) were the three Indian batters to breach the 100-run mark during the series. While Washington Sundar (88 runs at an average of 88.00) gave an excellent account of himself, the likes of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav failed to play a substantial knock.

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"India will have to be at their best" - Sunil Gavaskar on the ODI series against Bangladesh

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are back in the Indian squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh.

Gavaskar concluded by stating that India cannot take Bangladesh lightly, even though their batting mainstays are back in the mix, reasoning:

"Now for the tour of Bangladesh, all the big guns in batting are back and India will be a formidable team once again. That said, the Bangladeshis are an extremely tough team to beat at home and India will have to be at their best."

The first ODI of the three-match series against Bangladesh will be played in Mirpur on Sunday, December 4. The second game will be played three days later at the same venue, while the final ODI is scheduled in Chattogram on December 10.