Credit To New Zealand, They Nailed The Matchups Against India

Cricket Image for Credit To New Zealand, They Nailed The Matchups Against India (Image Source: AFP)

India had yet another 'Bizarre' night in the T20 World Cup where their batters just didn't arrive at the crease or was it? There was another team playing in Dubai that night who had done its homework against all the Indian batters. 

It all started with India opting to Ishan Kishan as the opener along with KL Rahul, which meant Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had to drop one position down from their regular batting spot. 

Was it the correct move? Or was it to shield India's best limited-overs opener against Trent Boult with the new ball? 

It was kind of both. What the Indian team management saw was Ishan Kishan having the best strike rate among the current batters (T20 World Cup squad) - 131.98 - along with KL Rahul(132.93).

The gamble they took was correct but it exposed Rohit and Kohli in the middle overs against a leg-spinner and a slow left-arm spinner. While Rohit has a strike rate of 108.54 against SLA, Kohli scores at 118.52 in the middle overs. Against leg-spin, Sharma scores at 127.86 while Virat has a strike rate of 112.83. 

Kane Williamson had to do nothing but bowl Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner from the two ends. As soon as Ishan Kishan got out in the third over, Santner came onto bowl in the next over. Santner bowled 3rd, 7th, 10th, and 12th over. 
Sodhi began bowling in the eighth over and got Rohit out in the first over itself. After the eighth, Sodhi bowled the 11th over and got Kohli out on the first ball. 

With Rohit out in the eighth over, Rishabh Pant again had to come in at the time which he doesn't prefer - 7-11 overs. In those four overs, Pant has a strike rate of just 114.55 against spin. With India already trying to rebuild the innings, he had to play in a conservative manner. 

Kohli got out in the 11th over when scoreboard pressure was at its peak and his dismissal brought in Hardik Pandya at his worst entry point - 11-15 overs. Pandya has a strike rate of 103.84 in these overs against spin; and against pacers - 108. 

New Zealand didn't had to do anything other than just to keep the pressure on with Pant and Pandya struggling to find a way to get out of the situation. Neither they could attack nor they could defend. When Pant tried to break free in the 15th over, Adam Milne got him out. 

Ish Sodhi finished with the figures of 2/17 in four overs while Mitchell Santner conceded just 15 in his four overs. India couldn't score a boundary in 71 balls - throughout the middle overs.