New Delhi: After winning the Napier one-dayer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men are now gearing up for the second one at Wellington where they face not only the challenge to maintain their winning momentum, but also to win at a ground that has been “exceptionally lucky” for New Zealand.
India can finally manage a smile after what have been a testing couple of weeks for them. Shrugging off their initial struggle, the Indians came out roaring at Napier with the batsmen leading the charge. The hosts, no doubt, would be plotting to avoid an encore.
“If we get a good start and capitalise more often than not, we’ll get a good target on the board which our bowlers can look to defend,” the Indian captain said after winning the first ODI.
While Daniel Vettori, the New Zealand skipper said, “Dhoni and Sehwag are quality players, so if you give them a chance they can hurt you.”
Desperate to return to the fold, Ishant Sharma is making steady progress even as experts continue to caution Dhoni against straining him too much in the one-day series.
“I will be available for the second one-dayer so I think it’s good for me,” Ishant said before the first one-dayer. “I’m not bowling in the nets even now. Before, I couldn’t even lift my shoulder but now it’s getting better.”
But former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri suggested of using Ishant sparingly in the limited overs version. “As far as Ishant Sharma goes, even if he was fully fit, I for one won’t play him in more than two one-day games. I’d like to keep him fresh for the Test series coming up.”
As they shake off the ghosts of Napier, New Zealand will no doubt take heart from their exceptional record at the Westpac ground, having won 10 off the 15 ODIs they have played there.
“We are looking forward to another chance to perform,” Vettori said. “We are pretty good performers at Wellington, so we hope to continue it there.”
While India would be keen to carry forward the winning momentum, the hosts would be itching to square the series by exploiting the home conditions to the fullest.