Top 3 Indian Players to watch out for in India vs New Zealand T20I series.
India vs New Zealand: The multi-format campaign for all the ICC teams have ended now, with Australia bagging their first-ever T20 World Cup trophy. Team India got an early exit from the tournament after playing five matches in the group stages. Following the humiliating show in the T20 World Cup 2021, India is all set to lock horns against New Zealand in the T20I series, starting 17th November.
The Indian selectors have awarded maiden call-up to a few young bright cricketers, who performed well in the domestic as well as in the IPL. A few senior players have been given rest after several complaints of bubble fatigue. The likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami and Ravindra Jadeja will be the major absentees in the T20I series.
Rohit Sharma has been awarded the full-time T20I captaincy by the BCCI. The cricket board has also shown faith in KL Rahul, who will act as a deputy to Rohit.
The T20I series against New Zealand will also be the starting of the new era of Indian cricket, where Rahul Dravid will provide his valuable services as the head coach of the team. It will be interesting to see, how the new era begins for team India and what sort of templet is preferred by Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid for the next few years.
Following India’s poor show in the T20 World Cup 2021, all eyes will now be concentrating on Rohit Sharma who will look to avenge the loss of the World Cup against New Zealand. This very article will lead you through the top 3 Indian players to watch out for in the T20I series against New Zealand.
Top 3 Indian Players to watch out for in India vs New Zealand T20I series:
Rohit Sharma (skipper):
The new Indian T20I skipper Rohit Sharma will be the main man for team India going ahead in the T20I series against New Zealand. The full-time opportunity to lead India in the shortest format is what he was looking forward to in the recent few years and he actually deserved it owing to his brilliant records in the T20s.
Rohit’s records in T20I are simply sensational. He is the third-highest leading run-getter in the format with over 3000 runs under his decorated belt. He has whacked four hundred in the format along with 24 half-centuries.
Incidentally, Rohit is also the leading run-getter against New Zealand for India in T20Is. He has scored 352 runs from 13 matches at an average of 29.33.
It will be crucial for Rohit to fire upfront in order to begin his full term leading role on a high. Moreover, Virat’s absence in the side will further push Rohit to take up the added responsibilities and cover that void.
ALSO READ: Hosting Rights/Countries of ICC tournaments from 2024-2031 announced, India get 3 tournaments
KL Rahul (vice-captain):
KL Rahul will keep his head up and move forth to the New Zealand T20I series. He is an in-form batsman with three consecutive half-centuries in the T20 World Cup 2021. He remained the top run-getter for India in the T20 World Cup 2021 amassing 194 runs from five matches at an average of 48.50.
The Karnataka batsman has been awarded vice-captain’s role following his consistent performances in the limited-overs for India. With the role, Rahul will have some responsibilities on his shoulders and will have to get accustomed to it as quick as possible.
Moreover, Rahul loves New Zealand as an opponent in T20Is. He has a decent run against the kiwis with 242 runs at an average of 48.40. He has even scored two half-centuries against them.
KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma pair will be crucial at the top for India. The kind of start both of these give will put the foundation for the total scoreboard.
Yuzvendra Chahal:
Team India’s seasoned leggie spinner Yuzvendra Chahal will have some questions to deal with in the coming T20I series against New Zealand. He was left out of India’s T20 World Cup 2021 squad which was quite a shocking omission for such a high profile tournament.
Now the onus will be on Chahal himself to prove the selectors wrong for their harsh decision despite showing encouraging signs in the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Chahal is an experienced player in T20I cricket and is the second-highest wicket-taker for India in the format. He was recently overtaken by Jasprit Bumrah. He has scalped 63 wickets in T20I for India in 49 matches.
His records against New Zealand are pretty average with seven wickets from 10 T20I matches. Chahal will look to improve his record against the Kiwis and will have to give bold answers to the selectors who might have missed a trick by removing him from India’s T20 World Cup squad.
ALSO READ: IPL 2022: Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra to be assigned coaching roles for Lucknow based new IPL team