MS Dhoni’s India need to beat New Zealand in five-match series to retain the No.1 ODI ranking. (AFP)
Agencies/Dubai
India enter the five-match ODI series against New Zealand at Napier starting tomorrow with their No. 1 spot in the team rankings at stake.
India are leading the table with 120 ratings points, and enter the series leading eighth-ranked New Zealand by 36 ratings points. If India do not win the series, they will lose the No1 rank and as many as six ratings points. India have been at the top since January 2013, when they replaced England. For New Zealand, a series win against India by any margin will mean that they will push up a place to seventh, ahead of the West Indies. A series loss for New Zealand, however, will not make any difference to their position on the rankings table.
If India does not manage to win the series, either Australia or England could stake a claim on the number-one rank. Australia and England are currently playing a five-match series, with the home team leading 1-0.
India’s Virat Kohli will start the series in New Zealand as the highest-ranked batsman on either side. Kohli is currently in second position in the batsmen rankings with 859 ratings points, just 13 behind number-one ranked AB de Villiers. A good show with the bat for Kohli could see him reclaim the number-one rank he last held in November 2013.
In all, India have three batsmen in the top 10, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni in sixth place and Shikhar Dhawan in tenth spot. Inside the top 20, Ross Taylor in 16th and Rohit Sharma in 18th place are the other batsmen likely to be seen in action.
Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja in sixth position will be the highest ranked bowler on either side. In fact, Jadeja is also the only player in the top 10 of the bowlers’ table who is likely to feature in the series.
Kiwi coach wants to pepper India with aggressive bowling
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said the Blackcaps will welcome the Indian batsmen with a barrage of aggressive fast bowling. Hesson said New Zealand would unleash new pace sensation Adam Milne on India, who are short of match practice and are coming from a tough tour of South Africa. The Kiwis enjoy the home advantage as the McLean Park pitch will offer enough pace for its fired-up pace attack.
“Quick, bouncy, a good wicket, a high scoring game, that’s the pattern we get there and it’s been pretty consistent,” Hesson said. Though the New Zealand pacers conceded 363/4 in the fifth ODI against the West Indies in Hamilton, Hesson feels against India his pacemen will step-up the accelerator.
“If you just try and deny there comes a time in the game with only four fielders out where it’s extremely hard to defend. If you’re able to keep taking wickets at the top you can control those middle overs. That’s a pattern that’s worked well for us and one we’d certainly look to continue,” Hesson said.
“It’s aggression in terms of where you bowl the ball, the pace you bowl and the areas you bowl. You’re not just running up and putting it there and hoping good things will happen, you’re actually trying to make things happen. We’ve got a few guys who do that naturally so we’ll certainly be encouraging that,” he added.