India aim to make it 2-0 against New Zealand
Sanju Samson would look to hit his straps in a much-needed settled role at the top of the order, while Ishan Kishan would be better served to make the limited opportunities count in the second T20 international between India and New Zealand here on Friday. In and out of the playing eleven for no fault of his own, Samson is now certain to get an extended run ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup.
Falling to a soft dismissal in the series opener, Samson would be determined to display his wide range of shots that have helped him rack up three hundreds in the shortest format. Another batter who needs to repay the faith of the team management is Kishan, a surprise inclusion in the World Cup squad and played ahead of Shreyas Iyer in Nagpur on Wednesday night.
The southpaw looked good in his brief stay before being caught at cover. With batting till eight, most Indians players bat in top gear trying to hit every ball out of the park. Kishan would continue with that fearless approach and can only hope that it pays off. Focus has been on captain Suryakumar Yadav’s form ahead of the ICC event and even though he could not make a major contribution, the 32 off 22 balls would have lifted his confidence by a few notches.
Despite the individual areas of improvement emerging from an emphatic win in the first T20, the performance as a team sent ominous signals to rivals ahead of the World Cup where India go in as defending champions. If India are to become the first team to defend the T20 World Cup title, Abhishek Sharma must continue to breathe fire at the top of the order like he did on Wednesday night.
The left-hander seems to be in the form of his life and someone who has a shown a rare ability to hit most balls out of the ground. In the lower-order, Rinku Singh coming back into the team and firing instantly was another big positive for India. Even in the absence of Kuldeep Yadav, the bowling department looks well rounded. If Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya keep taking wickets in powerplay, Jasprit Bumrah can be used for three overs post the powerplay, giving the side an additional weapon in the middle overs. Largely due to the massive total, India were able to negate the dew factor in Nagpur.
“The way we batted, even after when we were put under pressure in the powerplay, we were 25-2, and then we took the game till the 15th over, and then we never stopped, all the batters I think played their role really well and I think that was a big plus point,” said Suryakumar after the win. Dew is expected here as well and no total would be safe as South Africa showed last month, chasing down 359 rather comfortably against the hosts in an ODI game. New Zealand know they were not up to the mark on the bowling front and being a side which learns and adapts quickly, the Black Caps would be backing themselves to level the series.
