Under pressure India face rare series defeat at home

Pune : An under pressure India will face their stiffest test in recent times when they try to bounce back in the three-match ODI series against a refreshed New Zealand in the must-win second game here tomorrow.

It is not often that India find themselves in a 'save the series situation', having won the last six bilateral engagements.Not many had also expected New Zealand to topple India in the series-opener at the Wankhede but the visitors, playing their first match since the Champions Trophy, did it in emphatic style.

It took a record breaking 200-run stand from Ross Taylor and Tom Latham to get the better of their formidable opponents, putting New Zealand on the cusp of a rare series win in India.The way they played spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav was commendable, considering the Australians struggled against the same combination in the preceding series.

The hosts, no doubt, were off-colour at Wankhede but the Virat Kohli-led side is expected to come back hard at the Black Caps tomorrow. Kohli led from the front on Sunday with his 31st ODI ton but did not get the support from his team.India head coach Ravi Shastri too would want the rest of the side to step up.

The Indian captain, who stuck a memorable hundred in his 200th ODI, would like to continue from where he left off.His role will be again crucial if the team has to set up a big total, provided it bats first.The last time Kohli played at the venue, he ended up scoring a match-winning knock against England in January.

Dinesh Karthik, batting at number five, played a decent knock in his comeback game, stitching a 73-run stand with captain Kohli before throwing his wicket away.He is expected to make the playing eleven tomorrow, leaving little possibility of Manish Pandey getting a game.

India are likely to retain the pacers from the first game.On the other hand, New Zealand will be high on confidence after a comprehensive win. However, skipper Kane Williamson would like to be among the runs after the forgettable outings in the warm-up match and the first ODI.Latham and Taylor stitched a special stand at the Wankhede after openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro squandered promising starts. And they would not want to repeat that again.

The pace trio of Adam Milne, Boult and Tim Southee will again shoulder the responsibility to take wickets at the top.The Pune pitch was a belter when India played England and another run feast is expected tomorrow.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, George Worker and Ish Sodhi.

Match commences at 1:30 pm IST.