Auckland, Feb 8: New Zealand were forced to bring on their assistant coach Luke Ronchi during the Indian innings during the second ODI at Eden Park in Auckland. New Zealand were without a number of their frontline players, including captain Kane Williamson, in the second ODI which meant that they had hardly any players in the dressing room to use as a substitute fielder.
It meant that when the need arose in the 37th over, Ronchi had to put on the playing jersey and walk on to the pitch. He also had a small role to play two overs later when Navdeep Saini punched the ball to mid-on where Ronchi was standing.
Apart from the long term injuries to frontline pacers Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, New Zealand have been without Williamson since the fourth T20I while Fast bowler Scott Kugeleijn is down with a flu while all rounder Mitchell Santner caught a stomach bug and was unavailable for selection.
Despite the crisis, New Zealand managed to confirm a series win against India on Saturday in the 2nd ODI. Ravindra Jadeja took India close to an unlikely win with some help from the Indian tail, including a 76-run stand for the eighth wicket with Navdeep Saini. But New Zealand held their nerve and ended up winning the match by 22 runs.