India vs New Zealand | Madan Lal warns Virat Kohli and Co. ahead of the ODI series

After scripting history in Australia in both Tests and ODIs, the Indian cricket team has reached New Zealand for limited over matches. Virat Kohli and Co. will take on the Kiwis in five ODIs and three T20 games in their 18-day tour. The first ODI of the series will be played in Napier on Wednesday and the Indian side will be confident enough going into the games against the Black Caps. 

"New Zealand is a tough side. I think they will give a tough fight to India because they have a very balanced team and also have experienced players in the side. It will be better for India to face a tougher team ahead of the World Cup. When you play matches against these teams, it only benefits the team. They have a quality batting line-up and their bowling attack is also very good," Madan Lal told Sports Tak.

India have won a bilateral series only once in New Zealand which came under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in 2008-09 when they won it 3-1. However, in their last tour to New Zealand, the Men in Blue were thrashed by the Kiwis 4-0 in the one-day series. Meanwhile, India is a different team this time around with a Test and ODI series win in Australia which must have given them a lot of confidence. 

"I think, it will be advantage India in New Zealand. They will be confident after beating Australia in their own backyard. We have also given them tough fight in the last few India-New Zealand series. But we cannot take them lightly," the 1983 World Cup winner explained.