Team India won the second T20I against New Zealand by seven wickets on Friday, January 23, at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur. The victory gave the Men in Blue a dominating 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Overall, India performed admirably in Raipur, crossing the finish line with about five overs to spare. A few individuals stood out throughout the triumph, although the bowling was not the finest. Even in the chase, a couple of key batters struggled to deliver.
On that point, here are two Indian players who underperformed and one who shone in the second T20I against New Zealand.
3. Flop – Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh managed to bowl two decent overs at the death, but his final figures of 0 for 53 was a fair reflection of how much he got hit in the powerplay. Devon Conway hit him for three fours and a six in the very first over, Tim Seifert feasting on a series of boundaries off the second.
Conway and Seifert made it look all too easy to get Arshdeep to lose his lengths. The left-armer never bowled to his field at any stage – indeed at times Suryakumar Yadav could be seen in particular remonstrating with the bowler about delivering a ball that was absolutely the wrong option for two deep fielders within the powerplay.
2. Star – Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan didn’t quite have the T20I comeback he would have hoped for, but it seems to take more than a grain of salt when his bad days are followed by runs. Against Zak Foulkes in the third over of the chase and left-hander made it known from when he faced his first ball.
Assisted by some mediocre bowling, Kishan struck the ball to the boundary on either side of the wicket. He timed the ball sweetly and did not just aim to clear the boundary but played smart shots. It left the left-handed stroke-maker with a whirlwind 76, which carried his side to victory’s doorstep.
1. Flop – Sanju Samson
Kishan’s rival for the frontline keeper’s position, Sanju Samson, had another failure following his earlier duck. The right-handed wanted to take the game with both hands, but didn’t choose the right weapons in terms of attacking Raipur pitch from first over.
Samson attempted to tonk the long leg-side boundary with a flick, but Devon Conway shell-ed a simple catch on the boundary. Not having learned a lesson, the opener looked to play another aerial shot in the same over only to be caught at mid-on.
Samson’s glovework was underwhelming as well, and Kishan might just keep him out of the playing XI for rest of New Zealand T20I series if this trend continues.
