20 January 2014, 11:49 AM IST
Even if India loses all the five ODIs in New Zealand, little would change in the dressing room. You cannot dump the core of a squad now with World Cup only 13 months away, going by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's reasoning the other day why India could not afford to have different captain for ODIs.
On Sunday India lost the chase by 24 runs in Napier, despite a thunder of a century from Virat Kohli 123 (off 111 balls). This is a rare occasion when India has lost a match while chasing and Kohli cracking a hundred. Behind that piece of statistic, there is, however, a larger point. It's about how little traditions sometimes help you win.
New Zealand's little tradition in cricket has been its near flawless fielding, and in a team that is without marquee names, the value of athleticism and physical courage cannot be more emphasized.
In international cricket New Zealand's place is always assured, not as champions, but as gentleman cricketers who could offer a fight. Kiwis have not won any significant one-day tournaments, leave alone World Cup despite hosting it in 1991 along with Australia. Now in 2015, they again host the World Cup but their ambitions will not be vaulting.
Of course, on Sunday, New Zealand would not have won without the hard hitting of Corey Anderson, who scored 68 off 40 balls to power his side to 292 and then take two early wickets.
But it was those catches, starting with the one to send back Ajinkya Rahane by Nathan McCullum, off Anderson's bowling, that separated the winners from the losers. In time, other such moments followed. Suresh Raina, the Chennai Super Kings player, was turned back by another superb catch by Tim Southee. Then another Chennai Super King player,
Dhoni, was caught brilliantly by wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi, diving to his left and completing the effort with the ball inches above the ground. Then another Chennai Super Kings player- Ravindra Jadeja- was taken by Ronchi. By the time another Chennai Super Kings player -- Ravichandran Ashwin—was caught by Southee, the writing was on the
wall.
Not that the Indians were poor on the field. But they could not produce anything that rose above the ordinary. Mohammad Shami took four wickets, including two early blows, was the biggest take away for India.
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