India vs New Zealand 2019: Unnoticed things from the first ODI

After being victorious on the recently-concluded tour of Australia, the Indian team played its first match of the tour to New Zealand .

The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. Ambati Rayudu and Kuldeep Yadav were picked in India's XI while Ravindra Jadeja and Dinesh Karthik had to sit out.

India were bowling first and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were asked to start the proceedings from both ends. Shami didn't disappoint his captain as he dismissed both the openers in the first few overs itself.

Yuzvendra Chahal then dismissed the in-form Ross Taylor and dangerous-looking Tom Latham in the 15th and 19th over respectively. Meanwhile, Kedar Jadhav was also handed over the bowl and the man with a golden arm once again did what he has been doing in the past, as he got the wicket of Henry Nicholls.

Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav then did the rest of the damage as he dismissed half-centurion Kane Williamson and Doug Bracewell in the same over as Kiwis were eventually dismissed for the score of 156.

India's innings was interrupted by a break as the sun hampered the vision of the players for a while. This costed them one over as well and the game was reduced to 49 overs with the revised target of 156 runs.

This, in due course, resulted in a lapse of concentration as well and India lost the wicket of Rohit Sharma. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli then steadily built a match-winning partnership of 90 runs.

However, Kohli was dismissed a few overs before victory but it was Shikhar Dhawan, who along with Ambati Rayudu, helped India cross the finish line. In the end, India won the match by 8 wickets with more than 15 overs to spare.

Here are some things which you might have missed while watching the first ODI:

---

1) Shikhar Dhawan became the second fastest Indian to score 5000 runs

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan has become one of the most important prospects of the Indian team. Ever since the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013, there has been no looking back in his career. The 33-year old is currently one of the best openers in white ball cricket.

The Delhi-born batsman achieved the milestone of scoring 5000 runs in ODIs on Wednesday against the Kiwis. The southpaw achieved this milestone in only 118 innings, and thus became the second fastest Indian to achieve this feat.

He also became the third fastest cricketer to have this record after Hashim Amla and Virat Kohli. Shikhar Dhawan, after achieving this milestone, surpassed Sourav Ganguly (126), MS Dhoni (135) and Gautam Gambhir (135) who are now ranked at third and joint fourth position respectively.

2) New Zealand registered their second lowest total against India at home

New Zealand

The Indian team currently has one of the strongest bowling units in world cricket. The pace battery which consists of star bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar & Mohammed Shami along with the two extremely talented wrist spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav makes the line-up one of the strongest. In front of these fiery bowlers, every team in the world looks weak.

The Indian bowling line-up performed brilliantly in the first ODI against New Zealand as well. Kane Williamson had elected to bat first after winning the toss but as the Indian bowlers started doing their magic, this decision soon started to look like a poor one.

Mohammed Shami did the damage first up as he sent both the openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro back to the pavilion in back to back overs.

The two wristies then made sure that the hosts do not make a comeback as they took a total of 6 wickets among them. Amidst the chaos, Kedar Jadhav also grabbed a wicket.

The Kiwis were eventually dismissed for a total of only 157 runs. This was their second-lowest total against India on their own soil, while the total of 142 runs at Auckland in 1994 still remains their lowest.

3) MS Dhoni's presence of mind helped India to get a wicket

@msdhoni literally dictated that last wicket step by step before it happened. #NZvIND #Dhoni pic.twitter.com/QwPyuE1mEv

— Venkat Iyer (@Vencuts) January 23, 2019

MS Dhoni's presence, in itself, is enough to provide a boost to the team and make it stronger. The inputs that the veteran cricketer gives when the going gets tough are invaluable.

Not only his patience while batting or street smartness while wicket-keeping, but also the pieces of advice which he gives on the field to the captain, is what makes him one of the most important part of the Indian squad.

The 37-year-old led the Indian team for about 10 years and has been a legend in that aspect, and there is no denying to the fact that even though Dhoni is no more the skipper of the team, his on-field pointers to the spinners from behind the wickets and his suggestions to the Indian captain Virat Kohli in tough situations helps the team a lot.

A similar kind of incident took place today as well. In the 38th over of the first innings, Kuldeep Yadav was handed over the ball.

New Zealand were already nine down and India needed just one more wicket to wrap up the innings. Just after the penultimate ball of the over, MS Dhoni suggested Kuldeep Yadav to bowl from around the wicket.

Dhoni was heard speaking on the stump mic, “Ye aankh band karke rokega, isko idhar se daal sakta hai.” {He'll defend the ball with closed eyes (without thinking anything). You can bowl him over the wicket}.

Kuldeep decided to follow his senior's instincts and did exactly the same. And what happened next is that once again MS Dhoni got the better of the opposition.

Trent Boult, while prodding forward in defense, got an outside edge and was caught at first slip by Rohit Sharma right on the next ball. Dhoni's sharp presence of mind was proved yet again and it helped India earn a wicket.