3 best things that happened to India in the limited-overs series in Australia and New Zealand

India's long and gruelling tour of Australia and New Zealand is set to conclude after this three-match T20 series against the Kiwis. India will look to continue their domination in this tour and would hope to remain unbeaten at the end of the tour whereas, New Zealand will want to end things on a high after a disappointing ODI series defeat at the hands of India.

The team did their best to put away all the off-field controversies that happened behind and concentrate only on the 22 yards as the 2019 World Cup is fast approaching and these were the last set of matches that India will play in the conditions which are almost similar to the English ones before the IPL which will conclude in mid-May.

Here are three best things that happened to the Indian team out of this limited overs matches against Australia and New Zealand.

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#3 Third frontline seamer is identified

He has all but sealed a spot for the World Cup.

Before the start of the Australia ODI series, the one slot that was left to be filled in the bowling department was that of a third specialist seamer, and that void seems to have been filled by none other than Mohammed Shami.

The reason behind his selection was the format of the 2019 World Cup. It is such that each team plays every other team once in the league stages. So there is a chance of fatigue or there could injury concerns. In that case, the workload needs to be shared, and the inclusion of Mohammed Shami seemed to be justified.

Being a Test specialist, he repaid the faith by not only becoming the fastest Indian to reach 100 ODI wickets but also earned the Man of the Series award for his performances against the Kiwis.

#2 A settled middle-order

Ambati Rayudu was the leading run-getter in the ODI series.

A middle-order consisting the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik or Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni may not look strong on paper when compared to their top 3 of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli. But, the formerly said trio have the capability to win games on their own on their hay day which has not happened on a consistent basis but they have shown the signs that they can indeed win games for India on their given day.

Ambati Rayudu rescued India from being 4 down with just 18 runs on the board along with Vijay Shankar. He scored a vital 90 which might have sealed a place for him in the World Cup squad and saved India from the blues of Hamilton.

Dhoni and Jadhav too are in fine touch at the moment which is a positive sign for India and if Dinesh Karthik starts to chip in with runs consistently, India will have a solid middle-order than this.

#1 MS Dhoni finds his feet again

MS Dhoni will want to continue this form

A lot of criticisms were made regarding the form of MS Dhoni over the past year but Dhoni brushed aside all that and came up with a Man of the Series performance against the Aussies where he scored three consecutive fifties.

There was no better time for the former captain to get back into form and this could be the second coming of Dhoni that the fans have been looking for. His outings against New Zealand were decent to make people believe in him again.

If Dhoni is able to continue this fresh lease of form in coming games just before the World Cup in, then India will surely go into the tournament with a major boost. There is no doubt that an in-form Dhoni will make India a formidable opponent to any side than already it is.