India will once again look forward to Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to come good against New Zealand in the second ODI at Kotla. Image Source: BCCI[/caption]Internet Desk: A confident India will take on New Zealand at Firoz Shah Kotla on Thursday with an eye to extend its lead in the series. With the hosts leading 1-0 in the five-match series, Dhoni and his men would like to reassert themselves in order to further consolidate their lead.
It is expected that the team management would not tinker much with the playing XI from last game with Suresh Raina, who missed the opening match, being ruled out of the second ODI as well after failing to recover from a bout of viral fever.
The batting order it seems likely to be the same that played in the first ODI at Dharamsala. Rohit Sharma will look to make amends the shaky start at the top of the order against the likes of Trent Boult and Tim Southee. Rohit managed to score only 14 runs. The middle order looks solid with Virat Kohli in great form along with Ajinkya Rahane. Kohli, who scored a calculative 85* in the first ODI will look forward to get a bigger one in front of his home crowd.
A lot is desired from Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav in the middle order.
The captain himself will be eager regain his golden touch as a finisher. Dhoni ran himself out after scoring just 21 runs, thanks to a miscommunication with Kohli in the last match
It may be just another ODI in a bilateral series, but there is lot at stake for Dhoni, who has been under pressure after Test skipper Virat Kohli led India to the number one ranking following a 3-0 whitewash.
A 'Clean Sweep' in Test series with a career-best double hundred, followed by an effortless 85 not out in first ODI, Kohli has time and again showed as to how it is done "leading from the front."
For Dhoni, it's now about showing the world that he is far from being dubbed as a spent force in limited overs after earning sobriquet of 'Best Finisher" some years back.
No wonder Dhoni's intensity while batting at Kotla nets during an optional session on Tuesday was there to be seen. The Indian captain is just 61 runs short of completing 9000 ODI runs.
The inclusion of Hardik Pandya has no doubt strengthened the balance of the squad. Pandya’s all round show in the first ODI (3/31) will open up more options for the team management.
With just another series before the ICC Champions Trophy next year, the Indian team management will look to have a settled squad.
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