India vs New Zealand, 4th ODI: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

New Zealand annihilated India at Hamilton by eight wickets to get themselves on the board in the series.

After putting India in to bat, the hosts ripped through the Indian batting order to leave them tottering at 40-7. Though Pandya and Chahal ensured that the visitors breached the 88 run mark (the lowest score against NZ in ODIs for India), their performance was hardly anything to ride home about.

Trent Boult was the wrecker-in-chief as he bagged his fifth five-wicket haul while Colin De Grandhomme chipped in with three crucial wickets.

In reply, Martin Guptill started the innings with the first three deliveries all going for boundaries. Though Bhuvneshwar eventually got the better of him and Williamson, Taylor and Nicholls remained unbeaten to guide the team home.

Here is a look at five talking points from the game:

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#5 India once again succumb to the moving ball

India again folded against the moving ball

It is a well-established fact that India possesses one of the best batting line-ups in the world. However, recently, their susceptibility against the swinging ball has come to the fore and that characteristic is in danger of becoming a worrying trend.

At Hamilton, the Indians had no answer to the movement Boult and De Grandhomme generated and meekly surrendered their wickets. Yet, surprisingly, the collapse wasn’t the first of its kind.

Even in the 1st ODI against Australia, India found themselves on the back-foot after some adroit swing bowling by Richardson and Behrendorff.

A few months prior to that, India’s top order struggled in England and it eventually led to a series defeat.

Though it would be too early to draw conclusions, the pattern of some of India’s losses would surely cause a furrowed brow or two.

The World Cup is scheduled to take place in England and even though pitches are as flat as highways these days, there will always be a hint of swing in the United Kingdom.

And if India intend to repeat their heroics of 1983, such collapses simply can’t happen.

#4 Boult ‘swings’ the match New Zealand’s way

Boult had a field day at Hamilton

Trent Boult has been around the higher echelons of the pace-bowling circuit over the better part of this decade. Yet, his tendency to go missing on flat tracks has often been a rightful criticism.

Similarly, in the earlier ODIs, with the pitches on the slower side, Boult wasn’t able to prize out many wickets. However, at Hamilton, with the ball doing a touch, the left-arm pacer was back to his sublime best.

Boult was simply sensational in the 4th ODI as the Indians were stung by his brand of bowling. Blessed with the ability to move the ball both ways, Boult caused the visitors’ batting all sorts of problems.

As always, New Zealand would arrive at this year’s World Cup boasting of an extremely talented squad but none are as gifted as Boult.

On his day, he is simply unplayable and on Thursday, he reminded the whole world that he is still more than a handful on seaming wickets.

#3 Shubman Gill has a debut to forget

Gill had a rude international awakening

Before play began at Hamilton, Gill was handed his India cap by former skipper, MS Dhoni. Excited to be making his debut at 19 years of age, the former was grinning from ear to ear and couldn’t wait for his opportunity to bat.

His chance, though, came a little earlier than expected as Dhawan was sent packing in the sixth over.

Gill walked out to face the barrage of Boult. He conducted himself decently till a ball stopped on him and he was forced to offer a tame return catch to Boult.

Moreover, he had to bear the sight of his entire batting line-up falling by the wayside.

Over the years, there have been several debuts where players have instantly made a mark. Yet, those have been far and few in between.

As for Gill, the boy has as much talent as any in the domestic circuit right now and should be backed to the hilt.

After all, even the man who presented him his cap, the great MS Dhoni had an underwhelming start to his ODI career.

But yes, the game at Hamilton surely isn’t going to be one Gill will be playing on rewind twenty years down the line.

#2 New Zealand look better with three all-rounders

Nicholls repaid the team's faith with an unbeaten knock

After the mauling in the first three ODIs, New Zealand decided to ring in the changes for Hamilton. Astle came in for Sodhi, Neesham replaced Munro and Henry returned at the expense of Bracewell.

Though the trio barely had anything to do, the tweaks seem a step in the right direction. Over the course of the series, the hosts have been battling questions over their team balance. Yet, on Thursday, they seemed to put out the ideal XI on paper.

With three all-rounders in the mix, New Zealand has enough variety in their bowling while also not compromising on their batting.

Additionally, Nicholls at the top of the order is a safer option than Munro. Though the former might not blaze away, he would provide sound starts more often than not, thus enabling the likes of Guptill to break the shackles at the other end.

Cricket is rarely ever played on paper and even though New Zealand weren’t accorded the chance to display their full repertoire at Hamilton, one just gets the feeling that this combination of all-rounders could be the best alternative moving forward.

Despite the resounding result coming in a dead rubber, the inconsequential game might just have provided New Zealand with a template for the World Cup.

#1 India miss MS Dhoni in the middle order

India sorely missed the services of MS Dhoni

For the second game running, MS Dhoni was not a part of the eleven due to the wicket-keeper nursing a hamstring injury. While his absence didn’t count for a lot in the 3rd ODI, he was sorely missed as India crumbled at Hamilton.

Dhoni, who once started out as a belligerent batsman adapted his game over time. Nowadays, the wicket-keeper is more of a fail-safe option if the top order is nipped out in a bud.

Recently, he arrested a potential slide at Sydney. Though he couldn’t take his team home on that occasion, he certainly brought India within touching distance of victory.

In the past too, MS has been on the end of several rescue missions. His tremendous hundred against Pakistan at Chennai quickly springs to mind while his ton against England at Cuttack isn’t too far off either.

Thus, on a day when he wasn’t even part of the eleven, he emphasised how vital he is to the Indian scheme of things.

MS might not be the dasher of yesteryear but everything on this planet has to evolve with the changing times.

Though ‘Dhoni: The Hitter’ might yet be cherished, ‘Dhoni: The Crisis Man’ could just be a tad more important.