India suffered an unprecedented One Day International (ODI) series defeat on home soil against New Zealand, failing to score 338 in Indore.
Virat Kohli, Nitish Reddy, and Harshit Rana tried their best with the bat, but without the other established batsmen failing to fire deemed the target too big to be chased.
However, it is not just about mistakes in this one match, but certain issues across the three-match series that resulted in Shubman Gill’s team losing 2-1 to New Zealand.
With that said, let’s take a look at 5 key reasons team India lost the IND vs NZ ODI series at home.
Factors Behind India’s ODI Series Defeat
1) Top Order Falters
The top order is a key asset for any team, especially when it comes to chasing big targets. India found themselves chasing 301 and 338 in this series, and Rohit Sharma, their opening batsman, recorded just 26 and 11 runs in these matches.
During the IND vs NZ 2nd ODI, when the Men in Blue were batting first, he scored just 24, which once again, held the team back from getting off to a solid start.
While Shubman Gill wasn’t at his best either, he did manage two fifties. Shreyas Iyer though, recorded 49, 8, and 3 runs in the series, which further added to the top order issues.
2) Overdependence on Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has been India’s best batsman after Sachin Tendulkar, and he continues to anchor innings to this date.
The final fixture of the series is a prime example of how overdependence on Kohli cost the team the series. He struck a wonderful 124, but failed get any support from the other end. Only Nitish Reddy who scored 51, and Harshit Rana with his blazing 53 brewed hope, but without them, it was all Kohli with the bat.
Even in the first ODI, Virat Kohli’s 93 guided the team to a solid position, from where Harshit Rana and KL Rahul finished off the chase.
3) Benching Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh was benched for the first two of the three matches in the IND vs NZ ODI series. He came in replacing Prasidh Krishna and delivered instantly.
His omission from the playing XI may have to do with workload management and injury prevention with the T20 World Cup looming, but having him in there instead of a completely out-of-form Jadeja might have done the trick.
4) Fielding Errors
Holding onto catches are surprisingly emerged as one of the biggest problems with the Indian team on the field of late.
They have been dropping an unacceptable amount of catches, something which was extremely year some years ago. The second ODI was a good example of how dropped catches can cost matches.
5) Unproductive Middle Overs
Bowling with the new ball, Harshit Rana proved to be a big threat for New Zealand’s opening batsmen. He dismissed Devon Conway in all three matches, but when the ball got older, he, and even other bowlers looked toothless.
New Zealand enjoyed big partnerships in the middle overs, the most notable of which was Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips’ 218-run stand on Sunday, which derailed India’s momentum after solid starts.
Spin bowling was particularly unfruitful, which is why, again, having Arshdeep in place of Jadeja might have helped the side.
