India have failed to overcome their New Zealand hoodoo as they have suffered a home series defeat in the three-match ODI series.
The 50-over format has been kind to the Indian team, but they have faltered on home soil against the Kiwis, suffering a 1-2 series defeat.
After a stellar victory in Vadodara in the first match, the next two matches in Rajkot and Indore have resulted in defeats. New Zealand, under the captaincy of Michael Bracewell, have shown character and resilience and has clinched another memorable series win, after their clean sweep in the Tests in 2024.
There have been a number of areas which may be a headache for the Indian team. Batting and Bowling have largely been decent, but the form of a few players went haywire in the series.
Virat Kohli continued his scoring spree while Harshit Rana impressed with the ball. But it has been a poor series for Rohit Sharma with the bat, while Ravindra Jadeja also failed to make the desired impact.
India Report Card vs New Zealand ODIs
Here is a Report Card of the Indian team in the ODI series against New Zealand-
Shubman Gill (4.5/10)
India captain scored 135 runs in three matches with a couple of fifties to his name. His leadership faltered in crucial moments, but batting was moderately decent, although he failed to convert his starts to big scores. Along with that, Gill's captaincy on the field lacked in many areas, from bowling rotation to field placement.
Rohit Sharma (3/10)
A series to forget for Rohit Sharma as he only managed 61 runs at an average of 20 in these three matches. Rohit failed to say beyond the 15th over in any of the matches and kept on giving his wicket away. A poor outing for the veteran, to say the least.
Virat Kohli (9/10)
Without a shadow of doubt, Virat Kohli still remains the soul of Indian batting in ODI cricket. Kohli amassed 240 runs in the series with a hundred and a fifty to his name. His valiant 124 in Indore came in losing cause, but Kohli has shown his mettle and continues to be India's batting resort.
Shreyas Iyer (4/10)
Despite a promising 49 in the first match, Shreyas Iyer faltered in the other two with a combined score of 11 runs. After returning from injury, Iyer failed to make any impact in the crunch situations and will have to buckle up in the upcoming T20I series.
KL Rahul (7/10)
KL Rahul played a fantastic knock in the 2nd ODI where he scored a superb century to help India out of the mud. In the series, Rahul amassed 142 runs and also did decent glovework behind the stumps. In the first match, Rahul's late flurry secured India's victory as well.
Nitish Reddy (5/10)
Nitish Reddy scored 73 runs with the bat and scored a decent half-century in the 3rd ODI, but his impact with the ball was poor as the player ended up without any wicket in his 10 overs across the series.
Ravindra Jadeja (2/10)
It has been a horrible series for Ravindra Jadeja. He failed to get any wickets with the ball, and managed only 43 runs across three innings. Questions have been raised over his faltering bowling prowess and the veteran's selection in the ODI format is under scrutiny.
Harshit Rana (9/10)
Harshit Rana is a big positive for India in this series. Battling criticism, Harshit showcased his prowess across the three matches. He amassed 83 runs with the bat, which included a valiant fifty in Indore, and also picked up 6 wickets with the ball.
Kuldeep Yadav (3.5/10)
Kuldeep Yadav was underwhelming for India, picking up only 3 wickets in three matches. He had one wicket in each of those and conceded at 7.28 runs for over, not the desired impact the team was hoping for.
Arshdeep Singh (6/10)
Arshdeep Singh played just one match and was among the wickets. The left-arm pacer picked 3 wickets in the final ODI match and could have been used more in the series.
Mohammed Siraj (6/10)
Siraj had a decent outing with the ball. He picked up 3 wickets in three matches but was extremely economical, conceding at just 4.59 runs per over. India would have wanted more wickets from him, but he contained the Kiwi batters with his tidy approach.
Prasidh Krishna (5.5/10)
Prasidh Krishna picked up 3 wickets in the two matches that he played. Krishna got the crucial wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the first match and that was crucial from India's point of view.
Washington Sundar (6/10)
Washington Sundar injured himself in the first match and got ruled out of the series subsequently. But the all-rounder came out to bat with his injury and also managed to score a crucial 7 runs. He was instrumental in the winning partnership.
Non-Playing Contingent
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Ayush Badoni didn't get a game. Rishabh Pant was also ruled out with an injury before the 1st ODI match.
