Ind vs NZ, World Cup 2019: Batting failure against New Zealand a strong reminder for 'favourites' India ahead of group stage

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In the 2019 World Cup warm-up game against the New Zealand bowlers completely outclassed Indian batsmen as pacer Trent Boult four-for restricted the Men in Blue to a mediocre total of 179 at The Oval, London.

Apart from allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, none of the Indian batsmen looked in rhythm against the Blackcaps. Jadeja was the lone warrior for the Asian giants as he scored 54 runs off 50 balls which included 6 fours and 2 massive sixes.

The Indian batsmen struggled against swing at the start of their innings as opener Rohit Sharma was removed by Trent Boult in the second over and from their wickets started falling on a very consistent basis.

Rohit's opening partner, Shikhar Dhawan, who had an impressive run in Indian Premier League this year was not able to take his form to The Oval as he also became the Boult's victim on just 2 runs.

Skipper Virat Kohli looked comfortable in his 18-run knock, but Collin de Grandhome put an end to his innings early. With KL Rahul's failure, the mystery of India's number 4 spot remained unsolved. Boult destroyed Rahul stump wickets early as the Karnataka born only managed to score 6 runs in 10 balls.

Team management tried Hardik Pandya up in the batting order but after a promising start, the flamboyant allrounder threw his wicket away on 30 runs. 

Looking at the match situation, team management and coach Ravi Shastri made a mistake of giving Dinesh Karthik a chance to bat above Pandya as the latter came at number 7 and was sent to pavilion early by Jimmy Neesham on 4 runs.

MS Dhoni tried to stay on the pitch for a long time as he faced 42 balls but his Midas touch was missing which we witnessed in the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Dhoni scored 17 runs and became the victim of Tim Southee.

Looking back at the Indian innings, the T20 hangover is still not over for Indian batsmen as all the batsman were looked in a hurry and despite settling down players like Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni couldn't last long.

Indian team is entering the World Cup as the favourites to lift the title alongside hosts England but the batting performance against New Zealand surely hurt their momentum and they need to solve their misery before the group stage commence.

The Men in Blue will next face Bangladesh in their second warm-up game on Tuesday, May 28 at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff.