NEW DELHI: New Zealand batsman Henry Nicholls on Tuesday said the limited amount of one-day cricket played between global tournaments has made bilateral series like the ongoing one against India “more important than ever”.

With the next 50-over World Cup still 22 months away, debates around the relevance and context of the ODI format have once again surfaced, especially with most attention shifting towards next month’s T20 World Cup.

“Like you say there’s not as much one-day cricket between major events, I think that makes these series even more important,” Nicholls told the media ahead of New Zealand’s training session here at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.

“A few of us have been playing some List-A cricket back home, so we have got a bit of the format under our belt. But it’s a format that we enjoy playing so when you have those series now, they are more important than ever with limited amount,” he added.

New Zealand looking to extend good phases

Reflecting on the four-wicket defeat in the opening ODI, Nicholls felt New Zealand did several things right but failed to sustain momentum for longer periods.

“From a batting point of view, we did a lot of things pretty well and it’s a case of us being able to do them for a bit longer. Devon and I (had a) partnership at the top, if one of us is able to bat for an extended period of time…”

“That’s always the case of one-day cricket, if you’re able to have wickets in hand, have a set batter in through to the last 15 (or) 10 overs then it certainly extends your death (overs) period.”

Learning curve against India’s senior batsmen

Asked about the takeaways for New Zealand’s relatively inexperienced squad while bowling to seasoned Indian stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Nicholls said the bowlers showed encouraging signs.

“That’s the challenge when you come over here and certainly as a young group — even as an experienced group — is when you play against players who have played that much cricket,” he said.

“But also, to see it firsthand in the first game and the way the guys adapted, certainly from a bowling point of view, bowling to those guys and finding ways to try and put them under pressure…”

“If we are able to do some of those things even as an inexperienced side, then the nature of cricket is (that) if you’re able to take wickets, you’re able to put teams under pressure,” he added.

Nicholls also touched upon the impact of the one-ball rule after the 34th over and how it influenced batting during the latter stages of the innings.

“We saw at the end of our innings (as well), the ball was quite a lot darker and a lot softer as well which can make it harder to get away,” he said.

“That is why they brought the rule in terms of choosing one ball to make it a little bit harder around the death stage.

“That’s certainly something to keep in mind if you’re in a batting team (first) and (if) you’re on top, then maybe it will not be as easy at the end to score as much. So maybe take it on a little bit earlier,” he added.

(With PTI Inputs)