CWC 2019: Analyzing India's performance in the warm-up match against New Zealand

Warm-up games are played for getting accustomed to the conditions of the hosting country and every team focuses on providing enough game time to their players before the main event. Even though the results of these matches are not going to be considered for the tournament, winning the warm-up matches boosts the confidence of the teams and the players since every team likes to get ready on a winning note.

India have played their 1st warm-up game ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup against New Zealand and got defeated by 6 wickets; probably not the start they expected in the English conditions. India were bundled out for 179 in 39.2 overs and New Zealand played well enough to reach the target without any hiccups; winning the game by 6 wickets with 12.5 overs to spare.

After this defeat, India will be looking at themselves to find out what went wrong and work on their mistakes as they take on Bangladesh in their second warm-up game on 28th May 2019. Here is the analysis of India's performance in their first warm-up game:

A swinging challenge to India's batting lineup

Winning the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to bat first. It would not have been a right decision in the main event but he wanted to test his team's batting strength in a typical English condition where a grassy pitch with overcast condition assists the fast bowlers.

Indian top order fails the test

New Zealand fast bowlers made full use of the overcast condition and ran through India's top order. The Indian openers Rohit Sharma (2 runs off 6 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (2 runs off 7 balls) fell too early to Trent Boult. Kohli started well but he too departed after scoring 18 runs off 24 balls.

The fragility of middle order once again exposed

India's middle order has again failed under challenging conditions.

India's middle order has often struggled whenever their top 3 failed and this weakness was once again seen hurting India as Indian batsmen had no reply to New Zealand fast bowling. KL Rahul walked in at No. 4 in place of Vijay Shankar who was injured during the net practice session and it was a golden opportunity for him to make his case stronger for his inclusion in the playing XI. However, he could not grab the opportunity and departed after scoring 6 runs from 10 balls as India struggled at 24/3 in 5.4 overs.

Dinesh Karthik (4 runs off 3 balls) too, missed the opportunity as he got out on an absolutely loose delivery off James Neesham after hitting a boundary in the very first ball. MS Dhoni (17 runs off 42 balls) tried hard to make things settle down by hanging around but a soft dismissal sent him off leaving India with a score which read 91/7 in 22.3 overs.

The all-rounders did their job

Ravindra Jadeja

The innings of Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja were the highlights of an ordinary Indian Innings. Pandya continued from where he left in IPL 2019 and played a knock of 30 runs off 37 balls, hitting 6 fours.

Jadeja was the top scorer with 54 runs off 50 balls, hitting 6 fours and 2 sixes and played a crucial role in taking India to the score of 179. Jadeja proved his worth in bowling too, conceding just 27 runs in 7 overs and taking one wicket. Pandya too ended up with a figure of 1/26 in 4 overs.

Bowlers could not hit New Zealand back

India v New Zealand – ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Warm Up

180 was nowhere near a defending total on a wicket which got progressively flatter as the sun came out and the match continued. But Indian bowlers got plenty of overs to bowl before losing the game and it was a mixed performance from the Indian bowling unit; struggling to take wickets and put pressure back on New Zealand.

Jasprit Bumrah was outstanding and proved that he is in fine form with figures 4-2-2-1. Mohammed Shami too, was economical even though he went wicketless. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/27) looked off coloured, struggling to find his rythm. Kuldeep Yadav (0/44) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/37) bowled some decent overs but were hit by the New Zealand batsmen for runs on plenty of occasions.

A more agile fielding unit is expected

Karthik dropped Ross Taylor off Kuldeep Yadav's bowling and Jadeja almost sent Kane Williamson back to pavilion with a direct hit. Pandya too missed an easy run out chance.

\Fielding has always played a crucial role in turning around matches and India need to take such half chances, especially when the bowlers struggle to provide breakthroughs to tilt the match in their favour. India will expect their fielding unit to make an impact in the upcoming matches.

Looking forward

India will hope that these failures do not get repeated in the upcoming warm-up match against Bangladesh and in the main event. The batsmen need to be more patient and responsible while playing in such challenging conditions.

Bowlers too need to take wickets to put pressure on the opponents besides being economical. India will be looking to win the upcoming game and get themselves ready for 5th June 2019 as they take on South Africa in the mega event.

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