The Contest
A cracking five game One Day series is about to get underway between the BLACKCAPS and India, with the first battle to commence on Sunday in Dharamsala.
Just one place separates the two sides on the ICC ODI rankings, with the BLACKCAPS sitting in third position after winning seven of their last nine 50 over fixtures.
The History
Played: 93 … BLACKCAPS 41 … India 46 … five no results and one tie.
With conditions in the two countries so contrasting, it’s little surprise to learn that the home side tends to dominate these series. The BLACKCAPS have in fact never won a bilateral ODI series in India, despite having an 18-11 record in multi team tournaments in the country.
The last time the team’s meet in One Day cricket was down under in early 2014, where the BLACKCAPS ran out handsome victors with four wins and a tie. That series was notable for the emergence of young pace bowler Matt Henry, as well as the dead heat at Eden Park where 314 played 314.
The shoe was on the other foot when the sides meet on Indian soil in the series before that in 2010, when India swept the visitors 5-nil after chasing in four out of the five matches.
The People
The BLACKCAPS have welcomed back some serious fire power in the form of Corey Anderson and Tim Southee. They also have plenty of star quality in their line-up with Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Matt Henry all rated top ten in the world in their field. Make sure to keep an eye on the young spin twins of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, who set the World Twenty20 alight earlier this year.
From an Indian point of view, the One Day series sees the return of the indomitable MS Dhoni to lead the hosts. He will be without the star spinning duo or Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as well as paceman Mohammed Shami for the first three matches, while all rounder Suresh Raina is injured for game one. Dhoni still enters with plenty of match winners in his side, who know the conditions and will be looking to carry the Test momentum into the shorter format.
The Venues
Dharamsala, Delhi, Mohali, Ranchi, Vizag
First up it’s the picturesque mountain kingdom of Dharamsala where there could be a visit from his holiness the Dalai Lama on match day!
What They Said
“It’s an important series for us. Our last time with the white ball we won the Chappell Hadlee and the last time over here we were in the semi finals of the World Twenty20, so from a white ball perspective we’re travelling nicely and we can’t let a poor run with the red ball affect that.” - BLACKCAPS coach Mike Hesson.
"I am really looking forward to this One Day series. It's important to start fresh. Momentum will be the key. Winning the first match will be very important to be in that momentum.” - Indian batting trump card Ajinkya Rahane.
