India defeated New Zealand in the ODI series by 3-0 to grab the first place in rankings. They performed exceptionally well in that series. There are many positive points that came out of this series which will help them boost their confidence which our current Indian team needed for a long time. But was it enough if we look from the point that there is world cup coming in next 10 month. India whitewashed New Zealand, but it was not their strongest team.
Indian team’s performance in this series
Virat Kohli who got his form back in the series against Sri Lanka, in that series he scored 2 centuries in 3 matches but couldnt do much against New Zealand. The positives are Rohit Sharma got his form back and Shubhman gill performed superbly. Rohit Sharma scored 1 century and 1 half-century in the series whereas Shubhman gill scored 1 double century and 1 century. He won man of the series for his performance. The opening pair does well in all three matches, bowlers also played their part very well whether it is spin or pace. But speaking of it again, it was not New Zealand’s strongest side. Indian team still needs to check themselves against strong teams. Could they be able to perform under pressure?
Looking at the previous series, both against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, it was good India won this and the players found their form. But it was not a good fight, both Sri Lanka and New Zealand looks weak on the ground.
India is now number 1 in the ODI ranking, but can we trust that they can win the world cup? Do we know if this team can handle the pressure? Virat Kohli is back in form but can we believe him that he can score against the big team in a pressure situation? Our players look in good touch, but will they be able to maintain that performance in the world cup? Are they ready to play in the world cup? In the last 10 years, they have grabbed the number 1 place many times. Virat Kohli led team India very well before resigning.
The Indian team had performed very well in the bilateral series, whether its Kohli’s captaincy or Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, but they couldn’t manage to win a cup under any one of them. The last ICC trophy India won was the 2013 champions trophy under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. If we look at the performance in the bilateral series, the Indian team after 2013 is doing so much better than the Indian team before 2013. But before 2013, India won the 2007 world cup, 2011 world cup, and 2013 champions trophy, but after 2013 not a single one.