India take on New Zealand in a five-match ODI series starting today

After registering a 3-0 triumph over of New Zealand in the Test series that propelled Virat Kohli’s men to the numero uno spot in the ICC rankings, the focus now shifts to ODI cricket. The talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni will take over the mantle of captaincy from Kohli in the limited overs format. 

With Kohli delivering as skipper in the Test series, the pressure will be high on Dhoni as India need to beat New Zealand by a 4-1 margin to claim the third spot in the ICC ODI rankings.  The Kiwis are currently ranked third with 113 points, while India are at fourth with 110. 

Going into the series, India will start overwhelming favourites with the statistics clearly stacked against the visitors. New Zealand have never won a bilateral ODI series in India, having lost all four previous such rubber. 

While inspirational Dhoni has returned to the ODI scheme of things, the Indian team will be without three of its key players — Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami — all of whom have been rested keeping the gruelling season in mind.

The man who Dhoni will miss dearly in the ODIs is Ashwin, who is in tremendous form of late with both bat and ball. Ashwin finished with 27 wickets in the 3-0 Test sweep, and now has 220 wickets, the most by any bowler after 39 Tests. 

The rest given to the three premier cricketers means off-spinner Jayant Yadav, left-arm spinner Axar Patel and Dhawal Kulkarni will get a chance to prove their mettle before the national selectors. 

Hardik Pandya also made a comeback after being dropped during tours of Zimbabwe and United States respectively.  Dhoni’s last significant ODI innings was an unbeaten 92 against South Africa in October 2015, and he would be eyeing a strong performance to silence his critics at the fag end of his career. 

On the other hand, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has the unenvious task of trying to rally his team following three Test losses.  The Black Caps will be strengthened by the return of their most successful bowler and most destructive batsman in Tim Southee and Corey Anderson. 

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