India v New Zealand: Rohit Sharma seeks 'fearless' attitude from India

By Sports Desk January 17, 2023

Rohit Sharma has urged India to focus on themselves rather than top-ranked New Zealand ahead of another ODI series against the Black Caps.

The first of three matches takes place on Wednesday at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad, with India coming off a 3-0 series victory over Sri Lanka, and New Zealand having just earned a 2-1 success against Pakistan.

India contested a weather-spoiled series in New Zealand in November, with only one of three matches producing a result and the home side taking a 1-0 win.

Now they will hope for three full contests, with New Zealand having to cope without the rested Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, while Trent Boult is unavailable due to T20 commitments in the United Arab Emirates.

India suffered a blow on the eve of the opening match as batter Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series with a back injury. Rajat Patidar was named as his replacement in the squad, while Rohit announced Ishan Kishan would come into the middle order.

KL Rahul is another notable absentee, with his wedding to Bollywood star Athiya Shetty widely reported as being scheduled for the coming days.

Captain Rohit said: "New Zealand are a very good team. They're coming off a good series against Pakistan and obviously they're playing good cricket, so it will be challenging for us to come out and execute what we want to execute.

"We just want to continue from where we left off against Sri Lanka.

"We are not going to concentrate too much on the opposition. We will focus on what we want to achieve and what we want to do as a team. The last series was the perfect example of that. We just went out there, played some fearless cricket and take on the opposition."

India's series sweep against Sri Lanka was completed with a record 317-run victory on Sunday in the third game, after posting 390 and bowling out their tourists for 73.

Now they take on the team who sit at the top of the ICC rankings for the 50-over format, with the Hyderabad match followed by games in Raipur and Indore, prior to a three-game T20I series.

Good omens for the hosts

India have won their last two men's ODIs against New Zealand at home, as many as they had won across their five previous such fixtures (W2, L3).

They have also triumphed in their last three men's ODIs at the Hyderabad venue.

Landmark in sight for Gill

Shubman Gill is 106 away from reaching 1,000 runs for India in ODIs. Should he achieve the milestone with a century in this match, his 19th ODI, it would make him the joint-second fastest man to reach the mark, alongside Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq.

Gill made 116 last time out, in the third ODI romp against Sri Lanka.

Related items

  • Strasbourg 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Messi strikes as PSG seal record-breaking Ligue 1 title Strasbourg 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Messi strikes as PSG seal record-breaking Ligue 1 title

    Lionel Messi was on target as Paris Saint-Germain sealed their record-breaking 11th Ligue 1 title, despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg on Saturday.

    Messi, who will leave PSG when his contract expires at the end of the season, broke the deadlock with his 16th goal of the season just before the hour at Stade de la Meinau.

    Strasbourg substitute Kevin Gameiro thwarted Christophe Galtier's side with a 79th-minute leveller, but the point was enough for PSG to secure a successful Ligue 1 title defence with a match to spare.

    Strasbourg's top-flight status was also confirmed after the draw for Frederic Antonetti's hosts maintained their six-point cushion over 17th-placed Nantes, who failed to beat Lille.

  • Inter 3-2 Atalanta: Nerazzurri seal top-four finish after flying San Siro start Inter 3-2 Atalanta: Nerazzurri seal top-four finish after flying San Siro start

    Inter secured Champions League qualification in their penultimate game of the Serie A season, dealing a fatal blow to Atalanta's own top-four hopes with a 3-2 win at San Siro.

    The Nerazzurri – finalists in Europe's premier club competition this term – stormed into a two-goal lead within just two minutes and 49 seconds after Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella were on target. 

    Atalanta needed a result to keep their slim hopes of a top-four finish alive, and they were handed a lifeline by Mario Pasalic before the interval on Saturday.

    Yet Inter added a deserved third through Lautaro Martinez after the break, proving Andre Onana's late own goal a mere Atalanta consolation, as the Nerazzurri moved eight points clear of their fifth-placed visitors.

    Lukaku only needed 39 seconds to put Inter ahead, timing his run from Martinez's throughball before rounding Marco Sportiello and tapping into an empty net.

    Atalanta found themselves further behind by the three-minute mark, Barella hammering a rebound into the roof of the net after Sportiello twice saved from Federico Dimarco.

    Hakan Calhanoglu was denied a third by the offside flag when he netted with a ferocious volley, before Andre Onana was forced into action by Rasmus Hojlund and Teun Koopmeiners.

    Atalanta halved the arrears nine minutes before half-time, Pasalic hooking a finish beyond Onana following a goalmouth scramble.

    Calhanoglu drew a flying save from Sportiello as Atalanta wilted after the interval, Inter managing the game in typically assured fashion.

    Martinez stretched Inter's lead further when Marcelo Brozovic teed up a tap-in 13 minutes from time, before Luis Muriel's powerful long-range strike deflected in off the unfortunate Onana as the Nerazzurri just held on for victory.

  • Sevilla 1-2 Real Madrid: Rodrygo powers Los Blancos to comeback win Sevilla 1-2 Real Madrid: Rodrygo powers Los Blancos to comeback win

    Rodrygo scored a deadly double as Real Madrid battled from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Sevilla in LaLiga on Saturday.

    Carlo Ancelotti's side strengthened their grasp on second place in the league after recovering from an early setback to triumph at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

    Rodrygo's free-kick cancelled out Rafa Mir's early opener in an entertaining first half in Andalusia, where Madrid played without their star duo of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.

    Rodrygo's second goal with just over 20 minutes remaining proved decisive before Marcos Acuna was dismissed as Madrid moved four points clear of rivals Atletico Madrid, who host Real Sociedad on Sunday.

    Mir fired Sevilla into a third-minute lead after reacting quickly to sweep into the top-left corner when Bryan Gil's initial effort ricocheted kindly into his path.

    Rodrygo spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise shortly after, dragging wide when unmarked from Lucas Vazquez's low cross – but the Madrid winger soon made amends.

    An unsighted Yassine Bounou was deceived as Rodrygo whipped a 25-yard free-kick into the bottom-right corner after 29 minutes, although Sevilla should have been ahead at half-time.

    Erik Lamela volleyed against the post with Thibaut Courtois stranded, before the forward lifted a back-post chance over after an inviting Alejandro Gomez delivery.

    Rodrygo somehow lofted over when one-on-one with Bounou after the break, while Mir turned narrowly wide from Acuna's pinpoint centre.

    Yet Rodrygo proved the difference after 69 minutes, coolly finishing a rapid counter-attack by sliding into the bottom-right corner to down Sevilla, who saw Acuna dismissed later on for a mindless lunge on Vazquez.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.