In what came as a disappointing development, the first T20I between India and New Zealand on November 18 (Friday) was called-off without a single ball bowled as the rain Gods showed no mercy at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. The relentless rain had earlier forced a delay in the toss and as the downpour continued, the game was abandoned without even the coin flip taking place. The toss was delayed due to continuous downpour as sparse crowd waited patiently at the Sky Stadium.
After the just concluded T20 World Cup failure, bigwigs-less India will look to start afresh in the T20I series against New Zealand with their new leader Hardik Pandya. Having not learned from their mistakes, India will aim to shed their archaic playing style for good with the help of a 'young and fearless' bunch in the three-match T20I series.
In the absence of Virat Kohli, who has been rested for the New Zealand tour, the No.3 position is up for grabs. The fight for No.3 slot is between Shreyas Iyer and probably the best T20 batter in the world, Suryakumar Yadav.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reckons that Suryakumar will continue batting at the No.4 position while Iyer will replace Kohli at No.3.
"Anyway, Shreyas Iyer at 3, and Suryakumar Yadav at 4 are a lock. There will be a temptation to send Suryakumar Yadav at 3. But I think Shreyas has earned his right. So, Shreyas will go at three and Surya will bat at 4," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
Ashwin also delved into the possibility of India using Rishabh Pant as an opener. If that happens the veteran spinner wants his stateman Washington Sundar to find a position in the middle-order.
"If you send Rishabh Pant at the top, we won't have any left-handers in the middle order. Not having a left-hander in the middle order is also highly spoken about. Having a left-right combination in the middle is really important in T20s. Is there a left-hand middle-order option available?" Ashwin said.
"The only other option left is Washington Sundar. I don't know whether they will bat him at number 5. If they don't see him in that role, I don't know where else he will fit in this squad. Remember, this is a comeback for Washington Sundar as well," he added.
