3 takeaways from Team India's win over New Zealand in 2nd T20I

Team India beat New Zealand by six wickets in the second T20I at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, January 29. With the win, the Men in Blue squared the three-match series at 1-1. The two teams will now meet in the decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, February 1.

The Kiwis won the toss and batted first in the second T20I. However, the decision backfired as the visitors could only post 99/8 in their 20 overs. India’s spinners stifled the New Zealanders as not a single batter from the visiting side managed to reach the 20-run mark. Skipper Mitchell Santner’s unbeaten 19 off 23 was the highest individual score of the innings.

Team India themselves did not have it easy in the chase. Although they got home with six wickets in hand, the Men in Blue needed 19.5 overs to crawl past New Zealand’s paltry total in what was a far from convincing victory.

As India and New Zealand gear up for the decider in Ahmedabad, we look back at three takeaways for the hosts from their win over New Zealand in the second T20I.

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#1 Suryakumar Yadav has a second gear as well

Team India batter Suryakumar Yadav made an unbeaten 26 on a tough batting surface. Pic: BCCI

Over the last year and a half, Suryakumar Yadav has made a name for himself as a 360-degree batter, playing some sensational knocks by smashing bowlers to various parts of the ground. His unconventional methods have made him one of the toughest batters to bowl to in T20I cricket.

On Sunday, though, we saw a different side to SKY. On a surface that was not conducive to his natural style of play and stroke-making in general, he reined himself in beautifully. The 32-year-old displayed patience and maturity to take Team India over the line in a must-win game by rotating the strike smartly.

Having pulled the team to victory in such an unexpected fashion should stand Suryakumar in good stead for the upcoming challenges. He himself said after the game:

“A different version of SKY today. Adapting to the situation was very important when I went into bat. It was a challenging wicket. We didn't think it will turn this way in the second innings but it's important to adapt.”

He also proved to be an honest athlete, owning up to responsibility for the run-out of Washington Sundar. Suryakumar candidly admitted at the post-match presentation after being named Player of the Match:

“It was my mistake, it was definitely not a run, I didn't see where the ball was going.”

Ironic as it may sound, there were two big takeaways from Suryakumar’s performance in the most unlike-SKY innings.

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#2 Team India’s top order needs to work on its game against spin

Ishan Kishan has looked out of sorts in the T20Is. Pic: Getty Images

Although Team India got over the line in Lucknow, their batting performance at the top of the order left a lot to be desired, irrespective of the nature of the surface. They were found out in Ranchi and it was the same story all over again on Sunday.

Shubman Gill fell to a similar kind of stroke against spin in both games, lobbing the ball after shaping up for a pull. While it was Santner in the first game, Michael Bracewell outfoxed him in the second. Ishan Kishan may have been run out in Lucknow, but he might as well have been dismissed to spin for the second time in as many games since he never looked comfortable out in the middle.

All the experts would agree that the pitch wasn’t suited to the T20 style of play. Still, the likes of Gill and Kishan clearly need to work on their game when there is some turn on offer for the spinners. Making a scathing assessment of Team India batters’ struggles against spin, former India opener Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports:

“Indian unit as a batting unit has struggled against spin. I think these young players need to learn quickly how to rotate strike because, on a wicket like this, it's not going to be easy to go down the ground and hit those big sixes.”

Speaking specifically about Kishan, he added:

“It's a surprise because of the way he batted in Bangladesh after scoring that double-hundred. He has struggled after that, everyone thought his graph will start growing up with the kind of innings he has played.”

Apart from Gill and Kishan, Rahul Tripathi also looked out of sorts against New Zealand’s slow bowlers in the second T20I, and eventually miscued a sweep off leggie Ish Sodhi to deep midwicket.

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#3 Hardik Pandya learned from his mistakes in Ranchi

Team India captain Hardik Pandya with New Zealand players after the Lucknow T20I. Pic: BCCI

One of the big positives for Team India from the unconvincing win in Lucknow was the manner in which skipper Hardik Pandya utilized his spin resources. He got things wrong in Ranchi, where he did not make maximum use of his slow-bowling options, despite the pitch favoring the same. However, he learned from his mistakes and made the desired rectifications in the second T20I.

First things first, the decision to bring in leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for fast bowler Umran Malik, keeping the conditions in mind, was a smart one. The Indian spinners then bowling 13 of the 20 overs was a tactically brilliant move, for which Team India captain Pandya deserves credit.

In Ranchi, he gave only two overs to off-spinner Deepak Hooda, despite the bowler getting purchase from the surface. On Sunday, Pandya gave him his full quota of four overs and the part-timer did not disappoint, registering figures of 1/17.

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