India vs New Zealand 2019: Player battles - Part 1

After beating Australia in a hard-fought series, India will face New Zealand in a 5-match ODI series. The Indian team will be mighty pleased with the performance of its middle-order. While a resurgent MS Dhoni was seen in full force against Australia, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik did their bit to make the team management breathe a sigh of relief. Also, the Indian bowlers were excellent throughout the series.

On the other hand, New Zealand is coming off a thumping win against Sri Lanka. The Kiwis are a formidable outfit in ODIs, especially playing at home and under Kane Williamson the Black Caps have been in top form off late.

Even though Cricket is a team sport, individual battles often have an effect on the result of the series. There are a lot of quality players in both the teams and the series promises some intriguing battles between these players.

Here are the top players' battles in the series that can decide the outcome of the series.

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#4 Rohit Sharma vs Trent Boult

Rohit has struggled against Boult in the past

Rohit Sharma did not have a particularly good ODI series when the Indian team last toured New Zealand in 2014. However, times have changed since then and Rohit seems to be well equipped to play in any conditions. Rohit might look to take full advantage of the small boundaries in New Zealand and might want to go bang bang right from the beginning of the innings.

However, the Indian vice-captain is most dangerous once he is well settled at the crease and thus New Zealand will want to take his wicket early in the innings. The onus of getting Rohit out early will be on Trent Boult. The left-arm seamer has been in scintillating form off late and he will look to take the Indian opener with his swing bowling. Rohit hasn't been comfortable against swing bowling and Boult will like to exploit this weakness.

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#3 Mohammed Shami vs Colin Munro

Shami is on a high after a good performance against Australia

After being out of the ODI side for a considerable amount of time, Mohammed Shami made a comeback in the series against West Indies last year. However, Shami was dropped after a few games. But his terrific performance in the Test series paved way for his selection in the ODI side against Australia.

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Shami got an opportunity to play in all the three games of the series and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands. The 28-year-old looked extremely sharp throughout the series. He will have a crack at the Kiwi top order which consists of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro.

Talking about Munro, the left-hander has had a resounding success in limited-overs cricket for New Zealand. Even though his average is on the lower side, his high strike-rate of 106.7 is a testimony of his hitting abilities.

Shami attacked the Aussie batsmen with a lot of short stuff and it will be interesting to see how Munro tackles this particular ploy from the Indian pacer.

#2 Bhuvneshwar Kumar vs Kane Williamson

Williamson will be a prize wicket for India

One of the biggest threats for Team India in the series against New Zealand will be Kane Williamson. The Kiwi skipper has been the mainstay of New Zealand batting for some time now and big runs from him will certainly improve his team's chances of winning the series.

Williamson is technically sound and unlike most of the overseas batsmen, is a terrific player of spin bowling. Thus Virat Kohli might look to attack Williamson with pace and Bhuvneshwar might be assigned this crucial task.

Bhuvneshwar looked off-colour against West Indies but made a spectacular comeback against Australia, picking up 8 wickets in 3 games. Bhuvi was also the highest wicket-taker from either side. The right-arm seamer is deadly dangerous with the new ball and more often than not provides vital wickets in the first few overs.

Bhuvneshwar is also a thinking cricketer, and it will be a fascinating battle when he takes on the might of Kane Williamson.

#1 Virat Kohli vs Trent Boult

Boult celebrates a wicket as Kohli watches

Virat Kohli continued his fabulous run in international cricket in the series against Australia. The talismanic Indian skipper is unarguably the best ODI batsman in the World at the moment. Kohli has been breaking records after records and is on his way to becoming the best ODI batsman of all time.

Kohli will have fond memories of playing in New Zealand. The 30-year-old had hit 2 half-centuries and one century in the 5-match ODI series against the hosts in 2014. With the kind of form Kohli has been in, the numbers will just get better this time around.

One bowler who is capable of putting breaks on this juggernaut is Trent Boult. Boult has been outstanding for the Black Caps in all formats and has been Kane Williamson's go-to bowler. But Boult will have his task cut out against an in-form Virat Kohli and the winner of this battle might eventually win his team the series.