3 player battles to watch out for in IND vs NZ 1st ODI

After thumping Sri Lanka 3-0 at home, India now face a challenge from the Kiwis with a three-match ODI series beginning in Hyderabad on Wednesday, January 18.

The Men in Blue will be high on confidence after whitewashing Sri Lanka and will also know that New Zealand are without some of their key players like Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

However, the Kiwis do have other talented players who made a crucial contribution when they beat India in a home ODI series last year in November. A number of match-ups have developed, with the two teams having faced each other several times over the past few years.

On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups that could decide the result of the first ODI:

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#3 Suryakumar Yadav vs Lockie Ferguson

With Shreyas Iyer ruled out of the ODIs with a back injury, many believe Suryakumar Yadav will walk into the playing XI and probably bat at No.4 or No.5. SKY has been the best T20 batter in the world for quite some time now, but hasn't been able to replicate the same form in ODIs.

This is a crucial series for Yadav as he will look to prove his mettle in the one-day format with the World Cup later this year. However, his face-off with Lockie Ferguson will be interesting.

Ferguson was carted for runs all over the park when SKY hit his second T20I hundred a couple of months ago. But the speedster got his revenge in the ODI series, dismissing the swashbuckling right-hander cheaply.

Yadav has scored 24 runs from 15 balls off Ferguson in ODIs, so even he will think that he has the upper hand over the bowler. This sets it up nicely for an intriguing battle.

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#2 Tom Latham vs Kuldeep Yadav

Tom Latham has been a nemesis for India in ODI cricket and has played a number of incredible knocks under pressure. His move into the middle order has been a masterstroke by the Kiwis as Latham has decimated the Indian spinners multiple times with his trademark sweep shots.

If the hosts want to stop the stand-in New Zealand skipper from causing more damage, they will need to make smart use of Kuldeep Yadav. Latham will be confident of facing Kuldeep as he has scored 90 runs off 76 balls from the left-arm wrist-spinner in ODIs.

However, Kuldeep has also dismissed him twice and this will keep the bowler interested. This is going to be a very crucial battle as Latham will be New Zealand's backbone in the absence of Kane Williamson.

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#1 Virat Kohli vs Ish Sodhi

It is safe to say that Virat Kohli is back to his vintage best, having scored three ODI hundreds in his last four innings. The former Indian captain has a staggering 46 hundreds to his name in this format and is just three behind Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI tons.

However, Kohli's struggles against wrist-spin have been well-documented, especially over the past couple of years. This is where the visitors will want to introduce Ish Sodhi as he has tasted enough success against Kohli.

Sodhi has conceded 89 runs in the 73 balls that he has bowled to Kohli in ODIs, but has also dismissed the Indian star thrice. He has dismissed Kohli three more times in T20Is, making this a mouth-watering player battle to look forward to.