Team India continued their perfect start to the new year in the 50-over format by defeating New Zealand by 12 runs in the first ODI on Wednesday, January 18. Three Indian players flopped in the match.

Shubman Gill, the Men in Blue’s opener, was the star of the show, scoring a fantastic century to almost entirely propel the team to 349/8. In his hometown, Mohammed Siraj once more dominated the bowling department, taking four wickets.

Others, on the other hand, didn’t deliver. In light of this, the first one-day international against New Zealand featured three Indian players who performed poorly.

#3 Ishan Kishan

As the wicket-keeper, Ishan Kishan moved into the middle order since KL Rahul was out of the series. He was assigned to the position of No. 4 to deal with Mitchell Santner’s threat. The southpaw, however, was unsuccessful in producing the goods.

At the crease, Kishan played 14 balls and scored five runs. Before passing into Tom Latham’s hands, an away-angler from Lockie Ferguson kissed the edge of his bat. The child was run out in the 20th over with a score of 110 because he missed a great opportunity to make a statement.

Even though Kishan played a different role this time around after scoring a double century in his previous ODI, he was unable to carry that momentum forward.

#2 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli won the Player of the Series award in the series against Sri Lanka. The No. 3 batter had scored two hundreds in three games, the most recent of which was a stunning 166* just three days earlier. However, he was completely beaten in his first match of the series against New Zealand.

Before the game, there was a lot of talk about how Kohli would handle Santner, and the batter didn’t do his job. He was beaten on the outside edge and had his stumps disturbed as he camped on the back foot to a delivery that he should have pressed forward to counter. Only eight runs were scored when the 34-year-old walked back.

Over the past few years, Kohli has been fired in exactly this manner far too frequently. He absolutely needs to improve his spin game, which has significantly deteriorated. Given the significance of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, that does not bode well for Team India.

#1 Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya was unfortunate to be released, as it appeared that Tom Latham was tampering with the bails with his gloves. The all-rounder, despite his dismissal’s nature, put in a terrible performance.
Only three of Hardik’s 38 balls resulted in a boundary, two of which were ungainly edges behind the stumps. Hardik struggled to score 28 runs.

In recent times, his batting, particularly his hitting, has appeared horribly unconvincing. However, that wasn’t even the worst aspect of his performance.

70 runs were scored in seven overs by Hardik. The Kiwi batters knew what to expect when he repeatedly pitched the ball short, and they sent him to every corner of the field. The 29-year-old was determined to drive the ball into the pitch, despite the fact that there was some assistance available off the surface. However, this tactic produced no results.

Ferguson was also tempted into an ill-advised big shot when Hardik bowled two tight overs at the end. However, the vice-captain should have done much better overall.