NEWS
Follow UsThroughout this series, the Indian batting has been remarkable, especially with how Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have played down the threat of New Zealand’s new-ball bowlers. In the first T20I, Suryakumar Yadav, batting at No.3 showcased brilliant attacking instinct to take India home.
In the second and third, the middle-order once again were put under pressure. While they didn’t quite come up with the goods, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma suggested that there is room for improvement in the middle-order of the batting unit.
“It's important to start well. That's always been my mindset. Once you've seen the pitch you know what you've got to do. It was nicely coming onto the bat with the dew coming early. We had something planned as a batting group. Wouldn't say it worked out well. Room for improvement in the middle order. The batting front - KL missed out today but his form is critical. Middle order didn't get much opportunity except today,” Rohit said at the post-match presentation.
Rohit credited the efforts of the spin unit, with Ravichandran Ashwin spearheading the spin attack in two out of the three games. In the third T20I, it was one-way traffic, with Axar Patel picking up three crucial wickets to arrest any kind of hopes for the New Zealand team.
“The spinners did the job for us in the entire series. The way Ashwin bowled, Axar. And how Chahal came back. Good to see Venkatesh Iyer bowling those overs with the skills he has. Important for us going forward,” Rohit added.
The Indian skipper also noted that the emergence of Deepak Chahar and Harshal Patel at No.8 and 9 could play a crucial role in India’s future. He insisted that there would be demand for the players in those positions to come up with the batting goods.
“If you see the teams going around the world, they bat very deep. Number 8 and 9 can play a big role. Harshal when he plays for Haryana, he opens the batting for them so he's a good batter. Deepak, we saw what he did in Sri Lanka.
"I've grown up playing on a concrete pitch back in the day. Once I started opening a lot of things changed. Won't say it (playing the pull) comes naturally. I've practised a lot playing those shots. Some days it comes off very well but I've got out also playing that shot. That's why I say when you've got a certain strength, you've got to back it.”
Player of the match, Axar Patel, revealed that pace variation has helped him get the better of the batters. The all-rounder also insisted that in Kolkata, there was a need from him to hit the good areas, with the wicket helping the tweakers.
“Earlier when I got hit, I used to bowl quicker and quicker. Now I try to vary my pace. I try to stay a step ahead of the batter about what he's trying to do. There was help in this wicket. Ball was stopping,” Axar said.
“So I just tried hitting good areas because the wicket had some help. Want to take this confidence forward. Obviously if you take 27 wickets in a series, you feel like you can do anything (Tests against Eng).”
