India eye experiments after sealing T20 series against New Zealand
India sealed the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 3-0, with strong batting and bowling depth. Coach Gautam Gambhir may experiment ahead of the World Cup, as Ishan Kishan impressed while Sanju Samson struggled to find form
Visakhapatnam: The depth in batting and bowling of the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian team has been a major source of despair for visiting sides. The New Zealanders too found it difficult to handle in the first three matches of the five-match T20 international series.
So, is it time for India to experiment even as they look to continue the winning streak when the two teams meet again at the ACA-VDCA Stadium here on Wednesday?
With India winning the series already 3-0, the focus might shift to narrowing down the probable eleven for the forthcoming T20 World Cup.
India coach Gautam Gambhir, who was under fire after India lost the one-day series to New Zealand for the first time at home recently, now has the liberty to try combinations and give Shreyas Iyer enough game time.
The major concern remains the poor run of wicketkeeper-opener Sanju Samson. But he is such a class batter that it may just take one knock to regain confidence. He can take comfort from the fact that even Suryakumar regained his touch in this series after a string of low scores.
The best part of this series has been the comeback of southpaw Ishan Kishan at the crucial No 3 slot with a bang. So much so that Samson’s failures had little impact on the team.
Explosive opener Abhishek Sharma has taken his batting to the next level with his fearless approach against any bowler. The dew factor has also been a major advantage for batters in this series.
The bowling options too have plenty of class and variety in the form of fast bowling trio Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, and spinners Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav.
On the other hand, if the Kiwis are to salvage some pride, much depends on the striking prowess of Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell, even if the other big names Devon Conway, Tim Seifert and Rachin Ravindra fail to get going at the top.
Captain Mitchell Santner, whose batting has become a bonus for the team, should hope at least two of them score big to challenge India on a pitch expected to be batter-friendly.
The Kiwi fast bowling attack of Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson has struggled, and much depends on the skills of spinners Ish Sodhi and Santner, who face the uphill task of countering the in-form Indian batters and the dew factor.
