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Hamilton: Handed a shock defeat in the opening match, world number one India would look to plug their batting loopholes when they square off against a gutsy New Zealand in the second ODI on Wednesday.
Chasing a formidable 293 in the opening game in Napier, India seemed on track for a comfortable win before a middle-order collapse gutted them against the world number 8 home team.
What lay exposed was India's over-reliance on a certain Virat Kohli, left standing tall amid ruins with a sparkling hundred. But Suresh Raina's form has been a big concern, while the two openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have not given India the flourishing start expected of them.
Also, India's bowling will have to be a lot sharper in the coming matches given that the home batsmen negotiated the visiting attack without much difficulty in the series-opener.
With pacer Ishant Sharma and off-spinner R Ashwin not making much of an impression in overseas conditions, it remains to be seen whether the team management will consider making changes to the bowling line-up.
At Seddon Park on Wednesday, the visitors would be hoping for an encore from Kohli and better contributions from others in the line-up.
It is no secret that the team's fortunes are heavily dependent on Kohli's bat. His hundred the other day was his 18th overall in just 126 matches, with another 28 fifties to boot.
It is important to note that out of the 46 times he has scored a half-century or more, India finished victorious in 32 matches.
This is where the problem gets compounded since the number four and five batsmen haven't really contributed much to the Indian cause.
The team's think-tank has experimented with quite a few names for the middle order in 2013, especially these two slots at number four and five, with Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Kohli and Dhoni himself having batted there.
Meanwhile, for Brendon McCullum, there are fewer worries having taken an early lead in the series. If at all, they need only to focus on not taking the visitors lightly, who, on paper atleast, are a much stronger unit than the hosts.
The more pressing concern is about replacing 21-year-old fast bowler Adam Milne in the playing XI after he was sidelined from the rest of the series with a torn abdominal muscle.
While 26-year-old medium pacer Hamish Bennett has taken his place in the squad, Kyle Mills is expected to play instead.
He was also of the opinion that should the rain stay away tomorrow, there is every chance that batsmen will make merry, much like the last ODI played here wherein West Indies scored 363/4 in fifty overs.
Teams from:
India: MS Dhoni (Captain & wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishwar Pandey, Varun Aaron and Amit Mishra.
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (Captain), Corey Anderson, Martin Guptill, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Jesse Ryder, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Hamish Bennett.
Pitch and conditions
Hamilton has witnessed consistent rain for the two days leading up to this second ODI and pitch curator Andrew Brown believed that "the under-cover pitch will have something in it for the bowlers."
Match facts
Wednesday January 22, 2014 (day/night)
Start time 1400 local (0100 GMT, 6.30am IST)
