Virat Kohli’s Team India will have the opportunity to reclaim and firm up their position at the top of the ICC ODI rankings when they take on New Zealand in the three-match ODI series that begins in Mumbai on Sunday, 22 October.
India claimed the number one position in the rankings after defeating Australia 4-1 in a home series recently, but South Africa – by virtue of defeating Bangladesh at home – have sneaked past India and are currently sitting on top of the pile.
Where New Zealand are concerned, they are currently sitting at fifth, and a successful series could see them rise to third place in the 12-team rankings. The series in India could be pretty challenging for the Blackcaps; historically, New Zealand haven’t done too well in Indian conditions, add to that the fact that they are coming out of a hibernation – having not played any ODIs since the second week of June, and will have to face a rampant Indian team.
However, the Blackcaps will take plenty of confidence from knowing they competed well on their most-recent series in India. In the 5-ODIs they played in India almost 12 months ago, they dragged the series to the decider which Team India won by a whopping 190 runs.
Milestone Appearance for Captain Kohli
If he plays on Sunday, it will be a milestone appearance for Indian skipper Virat Kohli; the 28-year old will be playing his 200th ODI for India. He will become the fourth youngest Indian cricketer to appear in 200 ODIs and be the 12th overall to win 200 ODI caps for India.
However, in terms of accomplishments at this stage of his career – after 199 ODIs – Kohli’s numbers are unmatched.
Focus on Captains
Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson are rated among the best batsmen of this generation and therefore there will be a lot of pressure on the two skippers to deliver. Especially in a three-match series, there is very little room to warm-up, and both captains will be keen to get going from ball one. While Virat Kohli is currently ranked the best ODI batsman in the world, his counterpart Williamson – best batsman in the world for many cricket fans – currently sits 7th in the list.
Challenge for Kiwis
Not too long ago, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal ran amok against the Australians, and they will be expected to do much the same against the New Zealanders. For the visitors to succeed they need to keep the Indian spinners at bay and not allow them to cause too much damage.
In the two pre-tour warm-up matches, the Blackcaps batsmen gave a fairly good account of themselves against the spinners. Though they lost a total of 6 wickets, the batsmen scored at a rate of 5.21 – this across 39 overs bowled by the specialist spinners.
The last time a day and night ODI was played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, South Africa scored 438-4 batting first. Will the pitch be a belter yet again? Will the quick bowlers on both sides be able to make good use of the pace and bounce in the surface? You can find answers for all those questions in our live blog here. Match is scheduled to start at 1330 hrs IST on 22 October.
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT in partnership with #MyRightToBreathe to find a solution to pollution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)