New Zealand vs India 2020, 1st ODI: Top 3 performers of the match

3. KL Rahul

KL Rahul- The new finisher in the town.

In recent times, India have been trying KL Rahul in all any role he can fit in. After having a successful T20I series as an opener, Rahul was handed the finisher's role in this match and as expected, he continued his purple patch there too.

Rahul came to the crease when India lost the wicket of Virat Kohli, with the scoreboard reading 156-3 in 28.4 overs. At that stage, India needed another solid partnership and some fireworks towards the end to post a competitive total.

Rahul ticked all the boxes after coming in at No. 5, thus reinforcing his worth. He added 136 runs (101 balls) with Shreyas Iyer and 55 runs (27 balls) with Kedar Jadhav for the 4th and the 5th wicket respectively during his unbeaten innings of 88 runs (64 balls).

In wicket-keeping too Rahul looked as good as any specialist. He effected a quick stumping off Kuldeep Yadav's bowling to dismiss Tom Blundell, and his assistance to Kohli while taking DRS calls also added lustre to his performance.

India lost the match but Rahul's performance in front of and behind the stumps was surely one of the positives from the match.