Buoyed by a new-look Pandya, India ticked all the boxes against a circumspect New Zealand in 1st ODI

The average cricket fan in India is impatient. They go by prevalent trends, and not what selectors or team management might have planned for the future. The past matters too, and thus it was obvious why Mahendra Singh Dhoni was under pressure at the very start of this five-match One-Day International series.

Dharamsala then would not have been the optimal setting the Indian skipper would have wanted to start his own home season. The ball moves a lot here, and New Zealand boast of some good pace bowlers. Luck though has always been a friend to Dhoni, and it did play out handsomely in India’s favour on Sunday.

It started with the toss, which Kane Williamson lost for a fourth successive time on this tour. You could feel the wind knocked out of their system there itself. The pitch had a greenish tinge about it and they wanted to bowl first, despite resting Trent Boult and Matt Henry. Instead, they were batting when they did not want to, just like in the Test series.

The Kiwis have hit rock-bottom 

This is international cricket however, and you need to get on with the game even when faced with unfair obstacles. The Black Caps though are stuck in a rut, and its first shade became visible in Indore. Their attempts in the second innings there were a shocker. Skipper Kane Williamson admitted that they wanted to attack knowing full well that they had no chance of survival with just stonewalling. But a collapse of nine wickets in one session was incomprehensible.

Something opposite happened in the first ODI. The change in format allows some measure of risk, but in every format of the game, there is a need to find the right balance. If they were too aggressive in Indore, they were too circumspect in Dharamsala, and this lack of balance in their approach explains the two collapses.

Even so, it is tough to say which of the two is more disappointing. As things stand, they do not have a single century to show for their efforts on this Indian tour thus far. From Kanpur to Dharamsala, the New Zealand batsmen have collected more mementos than milestones. It is a staggering lack of runs from a line-up that boasts of Williamson’s calibre, Ross Taylor’s experience and Martin Guptill’s swagger.

Muddled state of affairs

This is where the problem lies. The latter two are not among the runs, and that is putting it mildly. Taylor scored heavily against Zimbabwe, and has gone missing against better attacks since then. Guptill has one decent knock to his name in the last two months, and that is not anything to boast about. It has heaped pressure on Williamson in turn, who, it seems is starting to not enjoy it.

Rated among the best batsmen in the world at present, his low-scoring dismissals on this tour have been a disappointment. He is a shade of his much-talked up self, and the New Zealand selectors back home might already be wondering if they need to find an alternative captaincy option. His meek shot, caught at third man, portrays the current muddled state of affairs, both in his mind and in the dressing room.

Truth be told, both Guptill and Taylor got out to very good deliveries, while the rest of the batsmen squandered away their wickets. It is not to say that the Indian pacers did not bowl well. But Tom Latham did show the way to bat on this pitch, especially to the likes of Williamson, Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi, who were all out giving catching practice to Indian fielders.

This puts the spotlight on what the hosts wanted to achieve from this match, apart from a winning start to the series, of course. Even since he re-assumed the reins of the Indian team, Dhoni has spoken about the few matches that he has, to prepare a blueprint for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

Dhoni’s stubbornness pays off

It sat well with him that the frontline bowlers were missing, thus allowing for different permutations and combinations in team selection. This is a pertinent point, because Dhoni can be stubborn in his team selection. Even in Dharamsala, with a plethora of left-handers in the New Zealand eleven, he could have gone in with untried off-spinner Jayant Yadav. But he chose to play Axar Patel instead, someone he has tested before and knows well.

The selection of Hardik Pandya, and the manner he was used in, gains perspective. Dhoni knows him and his style, of course. Ever since his debut in Adelaide in January, he has been the one big hope of a proper all-rounder in overseas conditions, at least in limited-overs cricket to start with.

Pandya lost his way during the World Twenty20, like most others who have been hastily promoted from the riches of the Indian Premier League to international cricket. That he has found his way back is more important. He looks fitter, stronger, and had a tad more pace in Dharamsala, though the new ball in seaming conditions could have masked that aspect.

Crucially enough, Pandya’s demeanour is one of purpose. It provides Dhoni with that extra-bowler option that he has been looking for since time immemorial. With the next ODIs scheduled in much warmer climes, this match closest in comparison with the conditions India might encounter in England next summer – hard track with the ball moving around. That his main ploy worked at the very beginning should boost the Indian skipper’s confidence.

This comfortable victory in Dharamsala then checks out a few ticks for India, namely with Ajinkya Rahane feeling comfortable whilst opening the innings and Kedar Jadhav looking in a mould similar to Suresh Raina. Going forward, it will be a matter of providing a sterner test, but that will depend on whether New Zealand can rise from this low point.