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New Zealand batters Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman in action against India during first T20I. (PHOTO: CREIMAS FOR BCCI)
With the T20 World Cup not far away, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said New Zealand’s batting order in Nagpur against India in the first T20I did not make sense as they succumbed to a heavy defeat.
“It was a very good innings by Glenn Phillips from a New Zealand perspective. He’s got a 100 just a few days back. You don’t want somebody who’s scored a 100 to slump as far as form is concerned. You want that form to continue, because that augurs well. Not just for him, but also for the whole team. And that is the reason a little bit surprising that Daryl Mitchell, we’ve got a couple of 100s (in the ODIs) to come down at number six,” Gavaskar said on JioHotstar. “It didn’t make any sense to me, but maybe they had their own reasons why they wanted to. I thought he should have come in at number three. Just maybe ahead of Glen Phillips, and then carried on the same partnership. Who knows? They might have run India even closer.”
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Riding on a brutal 35-ball 84 from Abhishek Sharma, India defeated New Zealand by 48 runs in the opening T20I of the five-match series in Nagpur on Wednesday. Apart from Abhishek, Rinku Singh (44 not out off 20 balls), Suryakumar Yadav (32 off 22 balls), Hardik Pandya (25 off 16 balls) also chipped in with useful contributions as India posted a massive 238 for seven after being asked to take first strike With the ball, Varun Chakaravarthy (2/37) and Shivam Dube (2/28) claimed two wickets each, while Arshdeep Singh (1/31), Hardik Pandya (1/20) and Axar Patel (1/42) were also among wickets.
In their run-chase NZ managed 190 for 7 in 20 overs with Glenn Phillips making a 40-ball 78 and Mark Chapman scoring a 39. But their batting never got going, after Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya struck early blows. But despite his great form in the ODI series that has seen him become No 1 in the world, New Zealand held back Mitchell.
Former New Zealand pacer Simon Doull concurred with Gavaskar regarding Mitchell, but went on to say the visitors haven’t figured out their combination even otherwise, calling for Rachin Ravindra to be dropped.
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“I think New Zealand want Phillips, at number four, yeah, but I just don’t think they know their entire combination yet,” Doull said. “At the moment, T20 is probably Rachin Ravindra’s worst format with the bat. I think it should be Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, and then this man at number four, Glenn Phillips. I think that’s how the top four should look moving forward. Phillips is such a good player. I think Mitchell tends to need a little bit more time. And so number three suits him. I don’t think he’s the sort of player that can come out and just whack it from ball one. So I think he needs a little bit more time. So, number three, to me, suits him, off the back of the power of Allen and Seifert. So that’s how I think they should go.”
It is worth noting that Allen is unlikely to be available till the fourth T20I on January 28 as Perth Scorchers have reached the BBL final, which is set to be played on January 25.
“I would leave Ravindra out of my side. It might sound silly, but it is his worst format, for me, and then New Zealand can actually stack that middle order. I don’t think they really know their right order. Thats why this series is a bit of a tester. I agree with Sunny, No 6 is way too low for a bloke who just got back-to-back hundreds. He should have been batting at three,” Doull added.
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