Hardik Pandya-led India will need to up their game when the side face New Zealand in a must-win 2nd T20I of the three-match series in Lucknow on Sunday, January 29. The Men in Blue were caught in a spin web in Ranchi as they went on to lose the opening match by 21 runs on Friday.
The loss also highlighted India's bowling issues, with a lot of the blame going on the heads of the pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik.
Malik gave away 16 runs in one over, while Arshdeep conceded 27 runs in the last one, which put pressure on the Indian batters while chasing down a massive total. The expensive over from the young left-arm quick was especially the turning point after he was smashed for three sixes and a boundary.
The Indian batters were off to an inauspicious start as well, with the top three managing just 15 runs. The hosts ended up scoring 155/9, which would have been a par score to defend on the wicket, as indicated by Washington Sundar after the match.
However, a debut for uncapped pacer Mukesh Kumar seems unlikely, and all eyes will be on Arshdeep, with the hope that to bounce back.
Kishan, Hooda under scrutiny
While Shubman Gill, who has been in red-hot form in the ODIs, has played just four T20Is and is still learning the nuances of the shortest format, the big concern will be the two key batters -- Ishan Kishan and Deepak Hooda. Occupying the opening spot, Kishan is nowhere near the ominous form he showed while slamming a record-breaking ODI double-century against Bangladesh last December.
Since then, Ishan's scores in the last seven innings in both ODIs and T20Is read 37, 2, 1, 5, 8 n.o., 17 and 4. If one just considers the T20Is, it's been a while since he last scored a fifty — against South Africa on June 14, 2022. Hooda, too, hasn't enjoyed much success as a lower middle-order batter and averages just 17.88 in the last 13 innings, with the highest being the unbeaten 41 against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede.
His innings of 10 runs from 10 balls at No. 7 on Friday lacked impact and the rotation of strike also came under scrutiny, especially when the New Zealand spinners were bowling.
Teams
India
Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar.
New Zealand
Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, Dane Cleaver (wk), Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Rippon, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy, Henry Shipley and Ben Lister.
