Overview
India & New Zealand are due to face each other on the 31st of October at Dubai International Stadium. Both the teams were handed humiliating & heart-breaking defeats by the ‘Mercurial & Unpredictable’ Pakistan. Virat Kohli & Kane Williamson would avoid the embarrassment by winning; especially India who would like to break the hoodoo of 14-year drought period without an ICC T20 World Cup Trophy.
New Zealand has had the wood over India in ICC T20 World Cups as both the teams have been clashed 2 times:
- 1st instance was at the inaugural T20 World Cup 2007 where the hosts where South Africa. New Zealand overcame India by winning the match by 10 runs as a gigantic target of 191 runs was a bit too much at that period of time. The multi-star-studded batting line up which consisted of (*former batters) Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir tried but pressure got better of them as New Zealand’s bowlers were throwing unexpected surprises as the damage was done by the former left arm off spinner Daniel Vettori who had taken 4 wickets.
- 2nd instance was in the last edition of ICC T20 World Cup 2016 at India. New Zealand had annihilated India by winning the match by 47 runs as New Zealand had bowled out India for 79 runs given the target of 127 runs. It was a shocking loss for India as Kiwi’s spinners had duped India batsmen who are known to be very good spin batters as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli & Co was left stunned & flabbergasted by the immaculateness of Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi(** currently both of the spinners are in the playing 11) & Nathan McCullum(*former) who took 7 wickets amongst themselves.
In the recent times India has settled the record with New Zealand as in 2020 there was a bilateral 5 T20I Match Series in New Zealand in which India had whitewashed Kiwis. The overall record of India-New Zealand T20I matches stands at 6-8 out of 16 matches (* 2 matches were abandoned due to rain).
- India
For India this is literally a do-or-die match as already their NRR (Net Run Rate) is -0.973. India’s conundrum of tackling swing bowling had got exposed as India had lost 3 wickets in power-play overs. The annoying problem for India is that Hardik Pandya isn’t 100 % match fit to play as an all-rounder as playing 5 bowlers isn’t a feasible option. Suryakumar Yadav who got drafted into playing 11 needs to play according to the situation as every time going for boundaries that too in crisis period isn’t a favourable option.
This is the first & last T20 World Cup for Virat Kohli as the Captain of Team India as earlier (before the start of the second leg of Vivo IPL 2021) he had announced his decision. Virat Kohli undoubtedly is one of the finest & greatest batters in the history of T20I Cricket as in the 1st match, he had showcased his prowess by scoring a fighting half century of 57 runs against Pakistan when the team was in a deep muddle. As of now India needs Virat the Leader who trusts his team players & most importantly makes sensible & practical decisions as picking Varun Chakravarthy over Ravichandran Ashwin is a blunder given the wealth of experience & skill Ashwin possesses.
India may tinker with the bowling combination as all the three pacers: Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Jasprit Bumrah weren’t that much effective & productive. Shardul Thakur can come in as a replacement for any one of the pacers or for Hardik Pandya as he is a pinch-hitter too who can be handy in tense situation. One of KL Rahul & Rohit Sharma have to take responsibility of batting at-least till the 10th over as their presence keeps the opponent frightened.
- New Zealand
New Zealand would rue the fact that they lost against Pakistan as at one situation they were in a commanding position & bossing the game. New Zealand’s NRR is not far behind from India as it stands at -0.532. New Zealand’s middle order is a bit fragile as the skipper Kane Williamson has to try & bat through the entire quota of 20 overs. James Neesham’s batting position needs to get sorted as he has batted as a finisher at No.6 or 7 throughout his career.
New Zealand astonishingly opened with the all-rounder Daryl Mitchell who had a decent outing as he scored a quick fire 27 runs in 20 balls but in doing so Tim Seifert the swashbuckling batter batted at No.7 position which affected the innings at the back end as Seifert wasn’t clearing the rope.
Before the start of their opening match against Pakistan; New Zealand were halted by the calf injury of the speedster Lockie Ferguson which ruled him out of the tournament. Lockie’s absence would hurt as he is one of the best amongst the crop of Kiwis & World Cricket at death overs; while on the other side the gates have been opened for Adam Milne (*reserve player) who somewhat has shades of the former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond who coincidentally is New Zealand’s fast bowling consultant. New Zealand are high on pace bowlers as they have the lanky Kyle Jamieson & the duo of Tim Southee-Trent Boult as these pacers are intimidating regardless of the pitch.
- Pitch & Conditions
Dubai’s pitch is expected to be a run feast as the teams should target a score around 160-180 runs & even more as dew can be a decisive factor.
- Keys to succeed in India vs New Zealand match
India’s strength is their power-packed batting line up; if they win the toss they should opt to bat irrespective of the conditions as New Zealand’s batting is topsy-turvy & scratchy.
New Zealand’s USP is their bowling as their bowling line up has got ingredients to suppress the opponent; but for that to happen the batters need to put a formidable total of 150-160 runs as 130 odd runs won’t win too many matches.
- India is known to produce staggering performances to raise against the circumstances & would believe that the hopes of a billion people aren’t diminished.
- New Zealand team’s idiosyncrasy is that they play like a team where they aren’t dependent on a single individual as they subsequently find multiple match winners on the given day.
It would be fascinating to see as which team’s journey would be stroked as both the teams are due to face Afghanistan, Scotland & Namibia where most likely they won’t have their fate in their hands. India have made it to the Semi Finals 3 times out of 6 (* 2007, 2014 & 2016) whereas New Zealand’s ratio is 2 times out of 6 (* 2007 & 2016).
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