Analysing India's bowlers for the One Day series against New Zealand

India take on New Zealand in the first of five One Day matches at Dharamsala on October 16. The series brings back the focus to One Day International Cricket, after a rather stagnant period for the India ODI team. The last of their major series was in Australia at the start of the year, with a second string side playing three games in Zimbabwe in mid-June under MS Dhoni.

Although the 2017 Champions Trophy is looming large, India have opted to rest a majority of their major bowlers for this series in order to give them a break before a tough series against England. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvaneswar Kumar and Mohammad Shami are some major bowlers missing from the Indian ODI squad that is set to take on New Zealand.

The series will enable India to find a good reserve group of bowlers for One Day Internationals before the selectors sit down to pick the team for England and later the Champions Trophy.

Let us go through the list of India's bowlers for this ODI series and their recent form and exploits.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah

The new wave of India's pace bowlers is led by the man with an awkward action, Jasprit Bumrah. He made his T20I debut against Australia in early 2016 after some eye-catching bowling spells for Mumbai Indians in the 2015 IPL. His slingy action and ability to land perfect yorkers made him a frontrunner in the T20 squad.

After the two T20Is against the West Indies in the USA, Bumrah holds the record for most wickets in a calendar year in T20I (28 wickets). He surpassed the record of Dirk Nannes.

Bumrah led a pace attack of young bowlers in Zimbabwe in June 2016 and picked up two four-wicket hauls. He has 11 wickets in 4 ODIs now and 39 wickets across formats in 2016 at an impressive average of 16.51.

Bumrah will once again lead the bowling attack with Kulkarni and Umesh Yadav for company.

#2 Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav needs a decent outing to cement his place in the side

An out and out fast bowler was something India did not have in their arsenal for a long long time. This was until Maharashtrian Umesh Yadav came into the picture. His ability to swing the ball at pace makes him a crucial weapon in ODIs.

Yadav has 7 wickets in 5 ODIs this year and a total of 14 wickets in 9 matches across formats. His average has been on the higher side and he has benefitted a lot in Tests, courtesy Virat's preference for quick bowlers.

Yadav will need to improve his performances and this series will be a testing one for him if he wants to retain a spot in the 15 when Shami and Bhuvaneswar return.

#3 Dhawal Kulkarni

Dhawal has been extremely impressive in the shorter formats

A largely underrated bowler, Kulkarni is a brilliant exponent of the outswinger. Playing for Gujarat Lions in the 2016 IPL, Kulkarni more often than not provided a vital start with early wickets. He was the fourth highest wicket-taker in IPL 2016 with 18 wickets in 14 games.

He has 20 wickets in 12 List A games in 2016 at an impressive average of 14. Kulkarni played in all 3 ODIs against Zimbabwe and picked up 5 wickets, providing the right starts with his outswingers. His 21 wickets for India across formats have come at a healthy average of 24.

Kulkarni will be itching to use this opportunity to establish himself in the ODI team. Given that the One Day Matches are at the quicker venues in India augers well for the 27-year-old who is at his best on green pitches.

#4 Axar Patel

Axar needs to start getting wickets if he is to retain his spot in the lineup

Interestingly, Axar Patel has taken the most wickets for India since the 2015 World Cup in Australia-New Zealand. He has 15 wickets in 12 games with a best of 3/39. His economy has been the highlight of his tenure with the Indian team, a miserly 4.39 since the World Cup.

Despite his decent performance in the IPL, where he took 13 wickets in 14 games with a best of 4/21, Axar has failed to establish himself in the One Day setup ahead of his competitor, Jadeja.

This series will be as critical to him as his debut series. Despite impressing massively in Zimbabwe with his economy - 2.60, 2.93, 1.60 - he is seriously short of wickets and a few in this series would help him stay in contention.

#5 Amit Mishra

Mishra has been in decent form in Tests and needs to bring that form into the ODI series

India's Stuart MacGill, Amit Mishra, has been largely overshadowed by performances from Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin. Mishra has been a different bowler in Tests since Virat took over the reins and will be hoping to carry on his Test form into the ODIs.

He hasn't played an ODI in the whole year and would do well to use this opportunity to the fullest. His four matches since the 2015 World Cup, have yielded just 4 wickets at an unimpressive average.

Mishra had a good season in the IPL this year, picking 13 wickets in 14 games with a best of 4/11. His economy was on the higher side, though. Despite competition from Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav, Mishra ought to be the no.1 spinner in the series.

#6 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya will be making his ODI debut

The dynamic all-rounder has been more talked about for his batting skills than bowling. But despite mediocre performances with the bat, his bowling has been noticeably good. He has 15 wickets in 16 T20I matches, including an impressive final over against Bangladesh in the humdinger match of World T20 2016.

Pandya has just 5 wickets in List A matches in 2016 in 7 games. The selectors seem to have gone with him given his potential rather than numbers. Pandya is yet to make his ODI debut and may get the nod ahead of Axar Patel at least in Dharamsala, Mohali and Delhi which are famous for their quicker strips.

Though the fact that India do not boast of a large number fast bowling all-rounders may benefit Hardik Pandya, he would do well to make his mark against a strong batting line-up like the Kiwis.

#7 Jayant Yadav

Jayant will be hoping for a chance to showcase his talent

A surprising selection given his impressive run has come mostly in First-Class games, Yadav would be looking to up his List A record. He has just 16 wickets in 23 List A matches at an average of 38.

There is no questioning his First-class record,though, which stands at 117 wickets in 42 matches. He has 21 wickets in his last 5 First-Class matches. He also had minimal game time in the IPL for Delhi, which already had Imran Tahir and Amit Mishra at their disposal.

Yadav may get to play a game or two in the series and will have to grab the opportunity with both hands to stay in this packed ODI squad. Only some stunning performances against the Kiwis would see him in the ODI squad for the England series.