The one-day international series between New Zealand and India which ended with New Zealand thrashing India 4-0 certainly indicates that the visitors are finding it hard to cope with the swing and seaming wickets in New Zealand. The batsmen, except Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, struggled throughout the one-day international series and looked like amateurs against a less experienced New Zealand bowling attack featuring Mitchell McClenaghan, Corey Anderson, Tim Southee, and debutant Matt Henry. The Indian bowlers were wayward and bowled poorly throughout the series.
India lost the first test of the two match series against New Zealand at Auckland. This was the first test victory of New Zealand over India since 2002 and it gave the Kiwis an unassailable lead in a 2 match series. The defeat in the first test was purely due to the poor captaincy by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who went into the game with a defensive mindset. The batsmen and bowlers failed completely in the first innings conceding a huge lead and eventually losing the game they should have won.
India needs to play aggressive cricket to win test matches away from home. There is a need of genuine pace bowlers who can swing the ball both ways. They have some good swing bowlers in Mohammad Shami and Ishant Sharma, but they are not quick enough to trouble the batsmen on the seaming wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin is very useful on Indian tracks, but he hardly gets the flight and turn that is required to take wickets elsewhere.
Batsmen should know how to cope with extreme pace bowlers like Mitchell Johnson, Dale Steyn and Matt Henry on the fast tracks in Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. The Indian batsmen are uncomfortable against the short ball and often lose their wicket playing reckless shots on fast and bouncy pitches. All the batsmen except Virat Kohli have struggled to score against quality bowling attack outside the sub continent. Shekhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane have scored heavily on placid pitches at home as compared to their relatively poor record on fast tracks in Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.
Dhoni and his men have done well on home soil but their jinx continues away from home. India last won a test series away from home when they defeated the weak West Indies during their Caribbean tour in 2011. This lone success was spoiled by a series of whitewashes by England and Australia when the sub continent giants visited these countries. India also faced humiliation in the test and one day international series when they visited South Africa last year.
