IND VS NZ: Three players who might warm the bench in the entire ODI series

IND vs NZ (Source: Twitter)

India and New Zealand are all set to lock horns in a three-match ODI series starting on 18^th January. The Indian Cricket Board announced the squad for the series on Friday where the fans got to see some exclusions and newer additions to the team. The team management is aiming to prepare a solid squad of 15 players whom they’re expecting to play in the ODI World Cup later this year.

As the management is eager to end the major trophy drought of the Indian team by following a set template, some players might miss out on the opportunity to play in the series, despite having their names in the squad. On that note, let’s take a look at three such players who might get unlucky and stay benched throughout the three-match series:

1 KS Bharat

KS Bharat (Source: Twitter)

Bharat has been added to the squad in absence of KL Rahul, who is on personal leave and Rishabh Pant. The 29-year-old has performed exceedingly well for Andhra Pradesh in first-class cricket. In 64 List A matches, he has scored 1,950 runs with six centuries at a strike rate of 76.98.

Despite having some great numbers against his name, Bharat might not get included in the playing eleven as Ishan Kishan has almost sealed his place in the team with his sensational double-hundred against Bangladesh last month.

2 Shahbaz Ahmed

Shahbaz Ahmed (Source: Twitter)

Shahbaz Ahmed has been brought into the side in place of the allrounder Axar Patel who will be missing the series due to family commitments.

Ahmed made his international debut against South Africa in an ODI at Ranchi in October 2022. The left-arm spinner finished with figures of 1/54 in 10 overs. In the three ODIs played so far in his career, he has picked up three wickets with best bowling figures of 2/32 and an economy of 4.8.

With a promising start to his career, Ahmed might still find it difficult to find a place in the playing XI as he will face tough competition from Washington Sundar.

3 Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur (Source: Twitter)

Shardul Thakur was having a golden run in 2021 when he became India’s match-winner with his remarkable ability to turn matches in his team’s favour with both bat and ball. However, he had a terrible run in 2022 as in the recent ODI series against Bangladesh he only picked up four wickets in three ODIs and scored just 12 runs.

Earlier, during the New Zealand tour in November, he failed to impress with the ball in the first ODI in Auckland, picking up only one wicket and splurging 63 runs in nine overs.

Despite having a great past record, Thakur will find it difficult to be in the playing XI as India already have the vice-captain Hardik Pandy at their disposal. Another factor which can prove to be detrimental to Thakur’s chances of making it into the team is the presence of four seamers in the eleven (Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik and Hardik Pandya). Until any of these four performs miserably or gets injured, the 31-year-old will have to wait for his opportunity.