Have India learnt anything? Of course, but is it substantial enough? Perhaps not!

Shubman Gill

Hardik Pandya

Washington Sundar

Umran Malik

Arshdeep Singh

Shivam Mavi

New Zealand tour of India, 2023

India

India conquer the New Zealand test but at what cost?

The South Africa white-ball captain was initially overlooked in the auction

Temba Bavuma

SA20 League, 2023

Sunrisers Eastern Cape

Temba Bavuma joins Sunrisers Eastern Cape for remainder of SA20

The leg-spinner recently became England's youngest Test player

Tom Abell

Saqib Mahmood

Rehan Ahmed

England tour of Bangladesh, 2023

England

Bangladesh

Rehan Ahmed receives maiden ODI, T20I call-up for Bangladesh tour

LIVE UPDATES: Ranji Trophy 2022/23 quarter-finals  

Ranji Trophy, 2022/23

Stumps: All to play for in Indore but PUN, KAR, BEN inch closer to semis

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja has been given the green signal to join the Indian team camp ahead of the first Test 

Ravindra Jadeja

Shreyas Iyer

Australia tour of India, 2023

Shreyas Iyer ruled out of first Australia Test: Report

Brisbane, Trent Bridge, Lord’s, Adelaide, Vijay stood like a rock and weathered the storm

Murali Vijay

Virat Kohli

Shikhar Dhawan

Virender Sehwag

Gautam Gambhir

Chennai Super Kings

Murali Vijay: The Monk who  ̶s̶o̶l̶d̶ ̶ flaunted his Ferrari


India had to struggle really hard in Lucknow to chase down a paltry target of 100 runs and eventually managed to get over the line in the final over of the match. Such had been the nature of the wicket that skipper Hardik Pandya called the wicket &ldquo;a shocker&rdquo; and later reports emerged that the curator was sacked from his role following the second T20 match between India and New Zealand.However, ahead of the final game in Ahmedabad, Indian vice-captain, Suryakumar Yadav stated that the team have moved on from it and are now ready to battle it out on whatever surface that would be dished out for the team going forward. Yadav, who made his international debut at the same Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in March 2021, added that the team wouldn&rsquo;t get worried about things that are not in their control.&quot;It doesn&#39;t matter what soil you play on. These are the things which aren&#39;t in your control. Whatever was in our control, we did in the last game. And we had to apply and adapt whatever we got. Also, it was an exciting game. No matter what the condition or the format is, if both teams try to have a good competition...wicket shouldn&#39;t matter a lot. You go out there, have a challenge, accept it, and move on,&quot; Suryakumar said in the pre-match press conference.&quot;It is completely fine. But we had a chat later on and it was like whatever we get in the future we will go on with it,&quot; he added.For Suryakumar, returning to Ahmedabad is a happy memory. After being unfairly ignored for the longest time, Yadav made his debut for India in 2021 against England in Ahmedabad and since then, hasn&rsquo;t looked back. He has become the No.1 batter in the ICC T20 rankings and has taken the world of cricket by storm.&ldquo;It feels good. When I came to the dressing room, I told our manager that I have come back to where it started. I was taking the steps down quietly and thinking back of 2021&hellip;great memories. This will be completely different. Expecting an amazing crowd at the beautiful stadium.&rdquo;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Reports emerged that the curator was sacked from his role following the second T20 match between India and New Zealand

Suryakumar Yadav

New Zealand

It doesn't matter what soil you play on : Suryakumar Yadav

India&#39;s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said the curator is the &quot;right person&quot; to talk about the surface that was on offer at the Ekana Stadium for the second T20I between India and England. The Black Caps could only manage 99/8 in their 20 overs and it took India 19.5 overs to hunt it down.The surface offered a lot of turn to spinners and not a single six was hit in the entire match. 30 of the 39.5 overs were bowled by spinners and the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Mavi, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson and Blair Tickner only bowled 5.5 overs between them. Indian skipper Hardik Pandya went on to <a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/it-was-a-shocker-of-a-wicket-pandya-on-lucknow-pitch-1675015184042" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">describe the Lucknow pitch as a &quot;shocker&quot;</a>.&ldquo;The curator is the right person to answer that question (on the pitch). But definitely, we knew it would be a big challenge and luckily we controlled the game. Anything in the range of 120-130 would have been really challenging. We did well to restrict them to 99 and it was an achievable target,&quot; Mhambrey said at the post-match press conference.India dropped Umran Malik for an extra spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal, who bowled only two overs despite taking one wicket for just four runs. Deepak Hooda and Kuldeep Yadav completed their full quota of overs, while Washington Sundar also chipped in with three overs.&nbsp;&ldquo;When we saw the wicket, we realised it was on the drier side. There was a little grass covering on the middle, but there was none on both ends. When we came yesterday, it looked like it would turn and we realised it would be challenging,&quot; said Mhambrey.Talking about Chahal&rsquo;s inclusion and him bowling both his overs in the powerplay, Mhambrey said: &ldquo;Chahal was included because we felt an additional spinner would help us. It really did as he bowled well for us.&quot;You take decisions on the basis of surface and instincts. Hardik possibly felt that a leg-spinner would help in that situation since a right-hander was batting and it was turning. Possibly that is why he bowled in the powerplay.&rdquo;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The surface offered a lot of turn to spinners, who bowled 30 of the 39.5 overs, and not a single six was hit in the second T20I

Curator is the right person to answer that question: Mhambrey on Ekana surface

On Sunday, Rahul watched the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand live from the stands. Here&#39;s how his day panned out, in his own words.This is it. Today is the day. After a 20-year-long wait, I&rsquo;m finally going to watch a Cricket match live in the stadium, for the first time in my life. Words can&rsquo;t describe how excited I am. I&rsquo;ve just woken up, and there&rsquo;s still 11 hours left for the game, but I can already sense it: this is going to be the best day of my life.But 11 more hours, duh! Can it be 7 PM already?&nbsp;Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway. Fuuuuuuuuuuu&hellip; I CAN&rsquo;T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT! &nbsp;I&rsquo;m already in cloud nine simply imagining the sheer number of sixes these players will be hitting today. 10? Maybe 15? Whatever the count might be, I hope I get to catch one.&nbsp;But you know what? More than the batters, I&rsquo;m super, super excited to watch Umran Malik bowl live. Being an aspiring quick myself, I absolutely loveeeeeee&nbsp;Umran. He gets me pumped up like no other cricketer in the country does, so I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT WAIT to get a glimpse of him. What if he breaks his own record and records 157 or 158 kph? OMG! 🥵The face-off between him and Lockie Ferguson is going to be maddddd! I cannot believe that in 11 hours&rsquo; time, I&rsquo;ll be watching two of the fastest EVER bowlers go up against each other. Fingers crossed they deliver 48 balls of thunderbolts between them.&nbsp;Ideally, I would love for India to bat first, post 200+ and win comfortably, but I also wouldn&rsquo;t mind a nail-biter. But all I&rsquo;m hoping for, really, is a run-fest.10.30 hours later &mdash; New Zealand win toss and bat; India drop Umran MalikUgh, Umran is on the bench. But it&rsquo;s fine. At least Lockie is playing, so I&rsquo;ll still get to see 4 overs of express pace. Shame India aren&rsquo;t batting first, but didn&rsquo;t New Zealand score 170-odd in the first game? Yeah, I&rsquo;m confident that they&rsquo;ll post a healthy total.&nbsp;OKAY! LET&rsquo;S GOOOOOOOOO!New Zealand 33/2 in 6 oversWhat. A. Start. I&rsquo;m loving this.&nbsp;I cannot believe how well India have bowled so far. To contain THIS New Zealand batting line-up to just 33 in the first six overs? UNBELIEVABLE!&nbsp;The pitch doesn&rsquo;t even look that bad either. This is champion stuff from the Indian bowlers!If Hardik can trouble the NZ batters this much, can you imagine the damage Arshdeep will do? I&rsquo;m sure he&rsquo;ll be introduced into the attack anytime now. Oh, and Mavi too!And I&rsquo;m sure Phillips will DEFINITELY look to counter-attack.&nbsp;Boy, this is going to be fun! 🤩New Zealand 48/4 in 10 oversKULDEEP, YOU BEAUTY! &nbsp;This ball to Mitchell alone has made the trip worth it! &nbsp;Surely, I&rsquo;m blessed? To have got the opportunity to watch THIS magic ball live from the stadium?Hardik is such a troll haha, bowling 2 overs of Hooda and all. I&rsquo;m sure that&rsquo;s it for Hooda, though, it&rsquo;s going to be Arshdeep time now &mdash; I can sense it.&nbsp;And I&rsquo;m sure New Zealand, despite the poor start, will fight back too. We saw this in the ODIs, didn&rsquo;t we? Bracewell is going to walk in too. And I know Chapman can hit a long ball.These next 10 overs are GOING TO SLAPPPP!New Zealand 71/5 in 15 oversUmmmm, weird tactics from New Zealand but okay. Sometimes these things happen, right? Maybe Santner and Bracewell are purposefully taking it deep so that they can launch towards the end without worrying about the wickets. Surely, that must be the case.This is good news for me because it means sixes will galore in these next five overs.BRING IT ON!&nbsp;And Hardik, please bowl Arshdeep? It&rsquo;s been 15 overs bruv 😭New Zealand 99/8 in 20 oversWell, that was underwhelming. Maybe it&rsquo;s just me. Maybe I just overestimated the Kiwis.But hey, on the flipside, this means I can return home early haha.&nbsp;A target of 100? For a batting line-up consisting SKY, Kishan, Hardik and Tripathi? Pffffffttttt. I&rsquo;m saying this is ending in 14 overs, MAX!&nbsp;And man I can&rsquo;t wait for this innings break to end and for India to come out to bat. I&rsquo;VE BEEN STARVED OF SIXES! &nbsp;I NEED TO SEE SOME SIXES!I can&rsquo;t wait for the Indian batting line-up to school the Kiwis on the art of six hitting haha.You know who I&rsquo;m banking on? Ishan Kishan. The last time India played here he hit 89 and my friends, who watched the knock live, wouldn&rsquo;t stop raving about just how good a hitter Kishan is. I know he&rsquo;s had a dry run, but he is due a big score. Today is going to be his day.&nbsp;And don&rsquo;t forget. Lockieeeee Ferugsonnnnnn is going to start bowling thunderbolts anytime now!BUCKLE UP, BUDDY!India 29/1 in 6 oversOooooh, that was a tight powerplay! What a shame Shubman got out, he was looking so good :(&nbsp;I&rsquo;d have loved to have seen more action but it is what it is.The good thing is that INTENT-MERCHANT Tripathi is here and he&rsquo;ll definitely start going after everything anytime now.&nbsp;And while Kishan&rsquo;s score might be 11 off 20 balls rn, he just hit his most confident stroke of the day. It could very well be the release shot he needed.&nbsp;Perhaps I&rsquo;m witnessing the calm before the storm. Kishan might just be a volcano that&rsquo;s ready to explode.And yes, surely the introduction of Lockie is in the offing too.&nbsp;Action-packed hour ahead, lezzzgoooo!!India 49/2 in 10 oversMan, I absolutely despise run-outs. Wasn&rsquo;t to be Kishan&rsquo;s day after all.Not the first 10 overs I was hoping for, but you know what? I&rsquo;ll take this boring phase if it means we get a SKY-Tripathi masterclass 😍If there&rsquo;s anyone who could light up Lucknow rn, it&rsquo;s THESE TWO!&nbsp;And IDK, I just have a feeling that both these players are going to put the foot on the accelerator right away.&nbsp;51 needed in 10 overs with 8 wickets in hand? A loss is out of the equation. No reason to not go BANG BANG from now-on.&nbsp;Hit one towards me, please? Thanks thanks!&nbsp;India 73/4 in 15 oversNot sure what&rsquo;s going on. And not sure what to expect, either! &nbsp;I&rsquo;m trying my best to hold it together.&nbsp;All I wanted was a few sixes, a few rockets from Lockie and a good, entertaining contest.These players are killing me, man 😭15 overs up and they still need 27 more, CHASING 100! &nbsp;No sixes and Lockie hasn&rsquo;t bowled a single ball either. SERIOUSLY?For the love of god, Hardik and Surya, DO SOMETHING IN THESE NEXT 30 BALLS! &nbsp;PLEASE, I BEG YOU!India (101/4) win by six wickets with 1 ball remainingYay! India won! &nbsp;No, no yay! &nbsp;Yay-ing for this feels like an insult to the yay&nbsp;emotion.I swear to god, I swear to freakin god, if I see any journalist, website or newspaper describe this dumpster-fire of a cricket match as a &lsquo;thriller&rsquo;, I will lose it. I WILL LOSE IT.WHAT THE? No, seriously. WHAT WAS THAT? This was not what I signed up for. This was not what was supposed to happen.&nbsp;Taking 119 balls to chase 100? And no sixes across 39.5 overs? And, on top of all that, the frontline fast bowlers from both sides bowl a total of 35 balls? What a sick joke. GIVE ME A BREAK!I better NEVER SEE anyone on Twitter make arguments in favor of low-scoring games in T20s. EVER AGAIN!&nbsp; &lsquo;LoVeLy tO sEe lOw sCoRinG tHriLLeRs&rsquo;. No. Heck no.&nbsp;I was at the stadium today and I can tell you, nobody liked what they saw. People, including myself, paid money to watch sixes and be entertained. Not for the cOnTesT beTweEn bAt aNd bALL.Wicket is turning a lot, is two-paced and causing the batters trouble? Cool. But I don&rsquo;t care. I really don&rsquo;t. I wanna watch fours and sixes. Keep your minefields and green tops to Test cricket, please.God damn it, my day has been ruined.&nbsp;I&rsquo;m never watching a game of cricket live in the stadium again!Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

What went through the mind of a cricket crazy youngster who went to watch the 2nd T20I with plenty of hope, expectation and excitement?

Ishan Kishan

Rahul Tripathi

Lockie Ferguson

Diary of a disappointed Lucknowite

It was one a kind of a T20I match but not in a good way. Everything about the clash was a head-scratcher, and the pitch: the biggest of them all. It is perhaps a record-breaker kind of a clash, one that saw no sixes being scored by either of the two teams. More importantly, the highest run-scorer for both teams after nearly 40 overs of completion was <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a>, who scored a 31-ball 26.&nbsp;Even for Suryakumar&rsquo;s standards, the pitch was rather a tough nut to crack, and needed the extreme efforts of the batters to put on a show. Indian skipper <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/63751/hardik-pandya/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hardik Pandya</a>, who himself faced a tough time in the middle was highly critical of the wicket, calling it a &ldquo;shocker&rdquo; of a wicket. Alongside that, he also insisted that dew played not a big role during the run-chase.&nbsp;&ldquo;This is a shocker of a pitch. We need to make sure we have better pitches. Even 120 would have been a winning total here,&rdquo; Hardik said in the post-match presentation.&nbsp;&ldquo;We kept to our plans, we made sure they will not rotate the strike, and the wickets kept falling. Dew didn&#39;t play much of a role because if you see they were able to spin the ball more than us. It was a shocker of a wicket. The ball was flying for even the fast bowlers,&rdquo; he added. &nbsp;But there wasn&rsquo;t much of a chaos in the dressing room. For almost till the 19th over of the run-chase, there was this extreme calm figure of Rahul Dravid in the dressing room. And in the 20th, there was Hardik and Suryakumar, who combined to finish the game for the Men in Blue. It was critical that the two batted till the end.&quot;I always believed we will finish the game,&quot; says Hardik Pandya. &quot;It went quite deep, but that is how it is. These kind of games, it is important to not panic. Rather than taking risks, we rotated the strike. having said that,&rdquo; concluded the Indian skipper.&nbsp;On the other hand, there was this version of Suryakumar that perhaps was unheard of in international cricket. The right-hander took his time, and throughout the innings struggled to hit the big shots. In the end, the right-hand conceded that it was crucial to adapt to the wicket and the situation.&nbsp;&quot;A different version of SKY today. Of course it was a challenging wicket, but you have to be able to adapt. We just needed one hit in the end, and it was very important to calm ourselves down. Before I got the winning runs, Hardik came up to me and told me you will hit the winning runs this ball. That gave me a lot of confidence,&rdquo; the right-hander revealed in the post-match presentation.&nbsp;In the middle, there was this massive confusion between the two batters &ndash; Suryakumar and Washington Sundar &ndash; which led to the latter&rsquo;s dismissal. The 32-year-old Mumbaikar admitted that it was his mistake, and stated that he wasn&rsquo;t too sure of where the ball went.&nbsp;&quot;Adapting to the situation was very important. After losing Washy, I had to make sure I batted till the end. It was my mistake, I didn&#39;t see where the ball went,&quot; he added.&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Hardik Pandya, however, insisted that the team was quite calm during run-chase

It was a shocker of a wicket: Pandya on Lucknow pitch

India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I, Lucknow: Live-Blog

Scratchy India record six-wicket win to level series

India have been a formidable team at home. Despite a loss in the first T20I, one can expect a comeback from them. They have managed to achieve that as well. In the five-match T20I series against South Africa, a young side had lost the first two matches and managed to bounce back in the next two.It won&rsquo;t be that easy though. The Indians will be up against a confident and a performing New Zealand team. Led by their skipper Mitchell Santner, New Zealand had different contributors in the first T20I, unlike India. &nbsp;Ground detailsIn T20Is, five matches have been played at the Ekana Stadium. In all those five encounters, teams batting first have won the game. India have played two matches at this venue and in both the matches, they scored in excess of 190 (199/2 vs SL in 2022 and 195/2 vs WI in 2018).The pacers have had the upper hand at this venue. They have bagged 78.7 percent of the wickets at a better strike rate. They have bagged a wicket every 16.3 balls as compared to 32.3 by spinners.In the five T20Is, teams have scored at a run rate of 7.3. However, in all T20s since 2022, in the 15 matches played, the run rate has been 6.8. On an average, teams have scored 133 runs in the first innings.Suggested Team<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674936678424-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil">While you could go for the above team, you can also choose your team from Cricket.com&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.cricket.com/fantasy-research-center/219590/ind-vs-nz-2nd-t20i-new-zealand-tour-of-india-2023/create-team" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fantasy Research Centre</a>. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.Captaincy suggestionsFor small leagues: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/13177/devon-conway/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Devon Conway</a> (capt), <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a> (vice-capt)For grand leagues: <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57903/mitchell-santner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Santner</a> (capt), <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65859/washington-sundar/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Washington Sundar</a> (vice-capt)Stats that matter-In T20Is, Devon Conway has an average of 58.5 and strikes at 144.4 against off spinners. The perfect batter against Washington Sundar who likes to bowl in the powerplay. &nbsp;-In T20Is since Finn Allen&rsquo;s debut, among top 10-ranked teams batter who have faced 100+ balls in the powerplay, no batter has a better strike rate than Allen (159.1). In the first T20I as well, Allen provided a stupendous start for New Zealand-India&rsquo;s top three in six matches post WC, have averaged 20.2. If we take out that one century from Surya, the average drops even lower. Surya in three innings as a top order batter (1-3) averages 65 and strikes at 184.5. But, the remaining batters, average 14.1 in 15 innings at a strike rate of 119.1.Grand league punts-Santner was in a league of his own in the first T20I. None of the Indian batters, including Surya, struggled to pick him up. In fact, he was the first bowler to bowl a maiden against Surya in T20Is. He loves bowling in India, he has picked up a wicket every 15.5 balls, which is the fourth best among bowlers who have bowled in 10+ innings in India.-Sundar was the biggest positive for India from the first T20I. He came good with the ball as well as the bat. Out of the 28 wickets he has picked up, 15 have come in the first six overs and 13 in the middle overs. The other good thing about his bowling, against both right-handers and left-handers, is that he has a good record. He has bagged a wicket every 23 balls against lefties and 23.7 against right-handers.Here are the top 10 criclytics projection<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674936544442-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib fr-fil"> Probable XIIndia: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Arshdeep SinghNew Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, Blair TicknerPowered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

Here are a few tips that could help you create your fantasy XI for the second T20I between India and New Zealand in Lucknow

Devon Conway

Mitchell Santner

Fantasy Preview: All-rounders are once more the safest bet

Playing a T20I series might be pointless for the world in an ODI World Cup year. But, for this young Indian setup, this series means a lot. With seniors like <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3852/rohit-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rohit Sharma</a> and <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/3993/virat-kohli/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Virat Kohli&nbsp;</a>sidelined, this is the perfect opportunity for these young lads to showcase their skills.In any case, with the talent pool available in India, the chances are limited, and it is up to them to cash in. As of now, that hasn&rsquo;t happened yet. In the first T20I, the target was ideal for the youngsters to step up, but they white-flagged without a fight. Once again, the man in form <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a> was burdened with the task. Even though Surya has been in surreal form, expecting a winning performance in every alternate match from him is a bit too much.One can blame the selectors, coach, and captain. But in reality, in the opportunities provided to few players, have they justified it? They had runs and wickets to their name before being selected, whether in domestic or in IPL. Adding one player to this group, does it solve the issue or not, is entirely up to that player.Things to watch out for-<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64712/ishan-kishan/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ishan Kishan</a> has been the biggest disappointment so far. In 25 innings, he has an average of 26.4 and a strike rate of 127.4. In his last 12 innings, Kishan averages 15 and strikes at 116.1.&nbsp;Even if India swapped Kishan with <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/66812/prithvi-shaw/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Prithvi Shaw</a>, what about the other two among the top three? <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/41229/rahul-tripathi/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rahul Tripathi</a> has played limited games, three to be specific. He has been rash in those three innings, but one cannot complain because that is the kind of cricket expected. With Shaw as, well, it is the same case.-Hence, India&rsquo;s top three has been poor post the 2022 edition of the World Cup. India&rsquo;s top three in six matches post-WC have averaged 20.2. If we take out that one century from Surya, the average drops even lower. Surya in three innings as a top-order batter (1-3) averages 65 and strikes at 184.5. But, the remaining batters average 14.1 in 15 innings at a strike rate of 119.1.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674926323584-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">-If that is one problem, India have another in the bowling department. At the start, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67905/arshdeep-singh/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Arshdeep Singh</a> lived up to his expectations. However, off late, he has seen a downfall. In the last six matches, his overall economy is 10.7, and in the last five overs, that rises to 11.7. The no-ball issues add to his woes as well.&nbsp;If we decipher his 24-match T20I career into four splits, his downfall is clearly evident. In his first six, he had an overall economy of 6.3 (5.7 in the last five overs). In the next six and the following six (7-18), his economy went up to 8.5 (10.9 in the last five) and 9.2 (12.4 in the last five).-The pitch in Ranchi turned out to be a spinners paradise. Kiwi spinners were able to get better purchase than the Indian spinners from that surface, and that doesn&rsquo;t come as a surprise. In T20Is in India, NZ spinners have bagged a wicket every 15.6 balls and 17.8 runs. Among teams that have played five or more matches, no team&rsquo;s spinners have been as successful as them, including the home team.Pitch and conditionsIn international T20s, five matches have been played at the Ekana Stadium, Lucknow, and in all the five games, teams batting first have won. However, in all T20s since 2022, teams batting second have won eight of the 15 games.In the first innings, on average, 133 runs have been scored. Overall, in the 15 matches, teams have scored at a run rate of 6.8, the second lowest among all Indian venues that have witnessed 10+ innings in this time.Tactical Nous<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674926680845-articleimg" style="width: 600px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">-Maintaining a strike rate of 175+ while averaging 45+ is just amazing, and that speaks volumes of Surya&rsquo;s calibre. However, there is a chink. In the first T20I, he had a strike rate of 41.7 against <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57903/mitchell-santner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Santner</a> (12 balls) and 190.9 against other bowlers. Overall, left-arm orthodox (129.3) is the only bowling type against whom he has a strike rate of less than 145. Santner vs Surya will be yet another contest to watch out.-<a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/66046/finn-allen/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Finn Allen</a> won the first round against Arshdeep when he scored 16 off 10 balls. But left-arm pacers are his biggest weakness in the format. In T20I, he has 11.4 with nine dismissals against them. Against no other bowling type averages less than 24.Team CombinationDespite conceding 27 runs in the last over, Arshdeep might retain the spot. However, if Kishan is replaced by Shaw, then <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/64724/jitesh-sharma/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jitesh Sharma</a> has to get a chance. If he plays, then either Deepak Hooda or Shivam Mavi will have to miss out. This could mean India will go in with the same XI, especially with the series on the line.India Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Arshdeep SinghThe visitors wouldn&rsquo;t want to change their winning combination.New Zealand Probable XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner&nbsp;Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

In the attempt to find the best combination up top, India is running out of options thick and fast

Prithvi Shaw

Jitesh Sharma

India’s troublesome top three under spotlight in must-win game

After an emphatic 3-0 win in the ODI series against New Zealand, the Men in Blue were outplayed by the visiting side in the first of the three-match T20I series in Ranchi on Friday, January 27.&nbsp;On a surface that offered a significant amount of turn, <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/65859/washington-sundar/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Washington Sundar</a> produced an all-around performance for the home team with figures of 2 for 22 in four overs and smashed his maiden half-century to help India inch closer to the target.&nbsp;With the top order not contributing much in a 177-run chase, the southpaw stated that it was just a bad day for the team. &quot;I think it was just a one-off game. I don&#39;t think that just because it was spinning so much, we have to address anything as it was a one-off game,&quot; he said in the post-match presentation.&nbsp;&quot;If we got off to a flier or a better start, things would&#39;ve been much different. Obviously, it did spin, and you will see such wickets here and there. Players in our team have played on such wickets in the IPL and even in the Indian team. So, just that one-off game where certain things didn&#39;t go our way,&quot; he further added.To one of the questions regarding the batting order of the side, the 23-year-old had a rather surprising response and said, &quot;All of them have got so many runs in T20s. If you don&#39;t get your favourite biryani in one restaurant, will you never go there again? All of them have done well to get to this stage, and they keep doing well,&rdquo; he said.One of the talking points from India&#39;s defeat was the dismal outing of <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/67905/arshdeep-singh/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Arshdeep Singh</a>, as the left-arm seamer leaked 51 runs in four overs. Despite his struggle, Sundar defended the speedster and said, &quot;&quot;Arshdeep has taken so many wickets for India and in the IPL. We are also human beings, and we also want to play the sport. When the competition is very high, and the opposition is of the highest quality, such things can happen.&quot;The two sides will now lock horns in the second T20I on Sunday, January 29, at Lucknow.&nbsp;

The 23-year-old smashed his maiden half-century in Ranchi but failed to guide the team over the line as India fell short by 21 runs

It was just a one-off game: Sundar on loss in first T20I

Does it feel like D&eacute;j&agrave; vu?Is the year 2016?Nagpur, anyone?You are not alone! If you feel like we have gone through this, you are not alone. If you think that this is D&eacute;j&agrave; vu, you are not alone. <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/57903/mitchell-santner/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mitchell Santner</a> does something that he only knows why and for a healthy part of the yesteryears, it wasn&rsquo;t a surprise that the left-arm spinner was No.1 bowler in the shortest format.81 T20Is isn&rsquo;t a joke. 91 wickets, that&rsquo;s not so much, so how really has Santner proven to be dangerous to this Indian batting unit here in Ranchi? The left-arm spinner has an economy rate of 7.05, and to think of how many overs he has bowled in the powerplay, it&#39;s astonishing.On Friday (January 27), the left-arm spinner was untouchable. The way he turned the ball, it almost seemed like it was Nagpur all over again. Four overs, one maiden, just ELEVEN RUNS and two wickets. That&rsquo;s insane!An economy of 2.80 for a spinner in four overs is unheard of, and against a dangerous batting which consists of a batter who strikes at 180, close to impossible. You know what&rsquo;s better? Against <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a>, the left-arm spinner just conceded five runs. He bowled nine dot balls in a row to the right-hander, showing why he is perhaps one of the most consistent bowlers in world cricket.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674845502999-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Again, you wouldn&rsquo;t be wrong if you thought it was Nagpur all over again. In Nagpur as well, the left-arm spinner spun the ball as much, and conceded just 11 runs, picking up four wickets. Here, he picked up two wickets but conceded only 11. Everything around his spell was pretty uncanny. But what happened in Ranchi?*******<a href="https://www.cricket.com/news/the-understated-brilliance-of-daniel-vettori-1674810213045" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">44 years ago, on this day, Daniel Vettori was born</a>. On his birthday, it was a fitting spell of left-arm spin from Santner, the man who was tasked with the job of filling those giant shoes. Santner made his debut all the way back in 2015, against England in Manchester.Since then, he has been involved in multiple memorable games for the BlackCaps but somehow year after year, the left-arm spinner has tasted sweet success in India. Santner has played only 12 matches, but in those 12 games in the country, the left-arm spinner has picked up 17 wickets, averaging 16.52.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674845542104-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Barring two innings, the 30-year-old has always picked up a wicket in the country. And thrice has he bowled with an economy rate of under 5 in the country, and four times under six. If you want to know how incredible that is, it is quite an achievement.But what made tonight&rsquo;s task more special was how he was against two of the in-form Indian batters &ndash; Shubman Gill and Suryakumar &ndash; and he made both their lives hell in a spell that saw the ball turn square and quite fair too. It was that kind of a night for the left-arm spinner, who in the post-match presentation joked that it was nice to see the ball spin a bit more.&ldquo;It was a bit of a shock for everyone involved, how much it kinda spun in the second innings. But it was a great game and it was pretty tight at the end. We saw a lot of runs in the ODI series and it was nice to see the ball spin a bit more,&rdquo; said Santner at the post-match presentation.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674845574640-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Even though they had scored 176 in the first innings here in Ranchi, there was a bit of doubt in Santner&#39;s mind on whether the dew would play that big a factor. Remember, Hardik Pandya at the toss stated clear as daylight that dew will play a huge role in the second innings, and as a spinner, that already is pretty detrimental.Why? Well, for starters, the ball is likely to skid more than turn given that it would be almost impossible to grip the ball. And that&rsquo;s exactly where Santner&rsquo;s captaincy and game awareness comes into the picture. India were already 15/2 before the left-arm spinner took the matter into his own hands and introduced himself into the attack.******************The first delivery, the ball stuck and spun miles away from the right-handed Gill, who was caught in two minds at the crease having premeditated pull-shot. Only five runs came off that. Even though Suryakumar had nicked a boundary off his bowling, he was brave to bowl another over against the right-hander.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674845687042-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">If it pays off, it is always brilliant but if it doesn&#39;t, it looks quite stupid doesn&rsquo;t it? That&rsquo;s where the experience of playing 81 T20Is comes into the picture. Santner has faced plenty of hitters in the past, and he understood the nuances of the shortest format. You don&rsquo;t always bowl to your strength, you sometimes assess the conditions and bowl to the weakness of the batters.But does Suryakumar have any weaknesses? At least the sample size of a year and a half suggests that there isn&rsquo;t much. Then how? That&rsquo;s where the left-arm spinner mixed up his over, sometimes with the length, sometimes with the line and most of the time with the pace. It was the change of pace that almost did it for Suryakumar in the over.What&rsquo;s more astonishing? He bowled a maiden to Suryakumar, in the powerplay. These are some of the things that were pretty unheard of before today. It also shows how Santner, one of the world&rsquo;s best spinners, likes to take on a challenge. It isn&rsquo;t the first time he has done it, and it won&rsquo;t be the last time.He came back just after the break, and yet again just conceded only one run. You think that&rsquo;s already quite a big thing, right? Nope, being the captain, he introduced himself back into the attack in the 16th over of the innings and only conceded five runs.<img src="https://images-cricketcom.imgix.net/1674845600055-articleimg" style="width: 700px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">To do it in one go, perhaps is heard of in T20I cricket. But to bowl three spells, and mastering a control across the three spells is pretty rare.&ldquo;That&#39;s always the challenge (on captain using himself). You don&#39;t want to be seen doing the easy overs and stuff like that. We knew it was spinning in the powerplay and it was nice to chip one out,&rdquo; Santner later revealed.During the course of the game, Santner bowled 18 dots, that&rsquo;s three maiden overs. He had also equalled an age-old record held by Vettori, who had bowled 18 too.That was Bangladesh, this was India. The bigger deal, this was in India in a ground that favoured sides chasing. It was that India, who had a quality batting unit. It was that India, who had smacked the leather out of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.But this is Santner. He is made of a different gravy.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The left-arm spinner turns the clock all the way back to 2016 to put up an inspired performance

Spiderman Santner ‘turns’ Ranchi into Nagpur 

Former Australia captain <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/2394/ricky-ponting/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ricky Ponting</a> said when it comes to &ldquo;innovation and skill&rdquo; he hasn&rsquo;t seen anyone better than <a href="https://www.cricket.com/players/11803/suryakumar-yadav/career-stats" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suryakumar Yadav</a> and feels that the Indian middle-order batter could even inspire a new breed of players to emulate his style of play and take T20 cricket to &quot;another level&quot; globally.&quot;I think innovation-wise, skill-wise, I haven&#39;t seen a better player (than Suryakumar) in the game. What it&#39;s going to do as well, a lot of other players are going to try and do the things he&#39;s doing and it&#39;s going to add another level of skill to the T20 game all around the world. Someone said during the IPL this year (2022), there are going to be guys who are going to try and do exactly the same as what Surya&#39;s doing, and that&#39;s going to be great for the game,&quot; Ponting told ICC.The 32-year-old is currently the top-ranked T20I batter and has been phenomenal in this format for India, having smashed 1578 runs in 43 innings at an average of 46.41 and a strike rate of 180.34. He was also named the ICC Men&#39;s T20I Cricketer of the Year after he became only the second batter in the world to score 1000-plus runs in a calendar year.&nbsp;Ponting said SKY is the greatest innovator in the shortest format of the game. &quot;He&#39;s probably doing it better than anyone&#39;s ever done it right now. We talk about players that can score 360 degrees &hellip; some of the shots he&#39;s hitting back behind the wicket-keeper and over fine leg are just remarkable.&quot;Ponting added that SKY has taken his stroke-play to another level and is playing some really audacious shots like flicking short balls for sixes over the wicketkeeper&#39;s head. &ldquo;Five or six years ago, he started doing that (innovating) a lot in the IPL. He was very good at flicking the ball over deep-backward square and getting the ball over fine-leg.&ldquo;Surya&#39;s now been able to hit short balls on the way up and flick short balls over the keeper&#39;s head and they&#39;re going for six, not just for four. I didn&#39;t think he&#39;d get to the level he&#39;s got to, to be quite honest.&ldquo;He&#39;s worked as hard as he has -- you can probably tell by his body shape. He&#39;s probably fitter than he&#39;s ever been, being around the Indian set up with the likes of Kohli and Shreyas Iyer and these guys, who are exceptionally fit young guys.&quot;(With inputs from PTI)Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The 32-year-old is currently the top-ranked T20I batter and has been phenomenal in this format for India

IND vs NZ T20 2nd T20I, New Zealand tour of India, 2023 - Commentary

IND VS NZ,2nd T20I

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