IND vs NZ, World Cup 2023: Defeating New Zealand will take a lot of planning, says Rohit Sharma

India are taking on New Zealand in their fifth match of the ODI World Cup. Rohit Sharma and Tom Latham’s side are the only two teams who are yet to suffer a defeat in the tournament and that streak might come to an end on Sunday, 22 October at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.

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India captain Rohit Sharma spoke about the clash ahead of the match and said that it takes a lot of effort to defeat a team like New Zealand, who are tactically a very good side.

“I think when I talk about tactical New Zealand comes to my mind. I feel they are tactically very strong they bat according to the plans that have been given to them. When you play against them you know some sort of planning has been done against each individual,” Sharma told the broadcaster ahead of the game.

India have a 58-50 head-to-head record against New Zealand, but when it comes to the ICC events, the Blackcaps seem to have their number. It has been 20 years since India defeated New Zealand in an ICC event, a run that started after their win in the 2003 World Cup.

Following the 2019 World Cup loss, New Zealand defeated India in the first-ever World Test Championship final and then in the T20 World Cup as well. Streaks like this do tend to play a role before you head into a top of the table clash.

Sharma spoke on the same and said that India needed to understand why they had this kind of a record against NZ and rectify the situation.

“They have beaten us in the ICC tournaments regularly so for us it is important that we try to understand the situation first what we need to do as individuals and try to play the game,” Sharma said on Star Sports.