India slipped to a 21-run defeat to New Zealand in the first T20I. The margin of defeat, if anything flattered the hosts considering the fact that they hardly ever really put up a real challenge for New Zealand to worry about during the chase. However, India also kept New Zealand check for much of the second half of their innings, especially in the death overs, before conceding 27 runs in the last over as Daryl Mitchell smashed Arshdeep Singh all around the park.
India's batting fell in a heap but at the same time, this remains a new top three and they would probably look to give the players a longer rope. Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi scored a combined 15 runs as India were caught in a spin web on the Ranchi pitch. The hosts ended up scoring 155/9, which would have been a par score to defend on the wicket, as indicated by Washington Sundar after the match.
Skipper Hardik Pandya, however, is unlikely to bring in uncapped pace bowler Mukesh Kumar for the second T20I and will probably back Arshdeep to bounce back. While Shubman Gill, who has been in red-hot form in the ODIs, has played just four T20Is and is still learning the nuances of the shortest format, the big concern will be the two key batters -- Ishan Kishan and Deepak Hooda.
Occupying the opening spot, Kishan is nowhere near the ominous form he showed while slamming a record-breaking ODI double-century against Bangladesh last December. Since then, Ishan's scores in the last seven innings in both ODIs and T20Is read 37, 2, 1, 5, 8 n.o., 17 and 4. If one just considers the T20Is, it's been a while since he last scored a fifty - against South Africa on June 14, 2022. Hooda, too, hasn't enjoyed much success as a lower middle-order batter and averages just 17.88 in the last 13 innings, with the highest being the unbeaten 41 against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede.
{{/usCountry}}Occupying the opening spot, Kishan is nowhere near the ominous form he showed while slamming a record-breaking ODI double-century against Bangladesh last December. Since then, Ishan's scores in the last seven innings in both ODIs and T20Is read 37, 2, 1, 5, 8 n.o., 17 and 4. If one just considers the T20Is, it's been a while since he last scored a fifty - against South Africa on June 14, 2022. Hooda, too, hasn't enjoyed much success as a lower middle-order batter and averages just 17.88 in the last 13 innings, with the highest being the unbeaten 41 against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede.
{{/usCountry}}Openers: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan
Middle order: Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c)
Power-hitter: Deepak Hooda
Spinners: Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav
Pacers: Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh and Shivam Mavi