"Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan will have to take some of the responsibility" - Wasim Jaffer 

Wasim Jaffer feels that other Indian batters other than Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill need to take up some responsibility in terms of scoring runs. The Men in Blue have been banking on the red-hot form of Kohli and Gill in the ongoing home season so far. The pair have scored a combined four hundreds in four ODIs so far, with Gill even recording a double hundred in the last match.

While Rohit Sharma has looked in decent touch, forging good starts consistently with the in-form Gill at the top of the order, he has not been able to convert it into a meaningful score yet.

While Suryakumar Yadav is still struggling to find the right tempo in ODIs, Ishan Kishan is settling into a new role in the middle order.

Opining that other batters will have to start contributing as well, Jaffer said on ESPNcricinfo:

"The likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan will have to take some of the responsibility. It has been a while since Rohit Sharma last scored an ODI hundred. Even though he is batting pretty well, but we are not getting to see a triple-figure mark."

Rohit's last ODI hundred came against Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium back in 2019. The skipper came close to the three-figure mark on two occasions in the recent past. He scored 83 in the first ODI against Sri Lanka on January 10 and compiled an unbeaten 76 during the tour of England in July 2022.

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"To their credit, they have been successful at it so far" - Wasim Jaffer on Team India's decision to bat first after winning the toss

A point underlined by Hardik Pandya during the first game of the home season was the fact that Team India are looking to do things the hard way by being under pressure to be prepared for whatever may come at the 2023 ODI World Cup on home soil.

In stark contrast to the trend of chasing, India skipper Rohit Sharma has opted to bat whenever he has won the toss in the home season so far.

Stating that India have cracked the code of consistently posting heavy totals in the first innings and helping the team get accustomed to the wet ball under the lights, Jaffer said:

"I think Rohit Sharma is looking to make the most of the conditions by batting first. The best time to bat is usually during the day because we have seen in the T20I and the ODI series that there is a little help for bowlers under the lights when the sun sets."

Jaffer continued:

"So, India might be looking to put the opposition under pressure by posting a big score when the conditions are ideal for batting. To their credit, they have been successful at it so far, scoring over 350 on a consistent basis."

Naturally, all eyes are expected on Virat Kohli, who has tallied three centuries across his last five ODI innings. He was undone by a brilliant delivery by Mitchell Santner in the first ODI and will be on the lookout to make amends in the upcoming contest. Jaffer said:

"Virat Kohli has shunned the law of average several times in the past. When he starts scoring runs, the law of averages goes on the back foot. I won't be surprised if we see another big innings from him, but the other batters will have to definitely step up."

Team India will lock horns with New Zealand in the second ODI at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur on Saturday, January 21.

Who will win the second ODI between the two sides? Let us know what you think.

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