3 Big Takeaways For Team India From The T20I Series Against New Zealand

India couldn’t have asked for a better start to their long tour of New Zealand as they outplayed the hosts thoroughly to take the T20 trophy by a margin of 5-0. It was the first time that a team beat the other by 5-0 in the five-match series and the first T20I series victory for India against the Kiwis on their home turf. There were individual performances from New Zealand, but collectively they could come nowhere close to beating the Indian team.

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It was all the more endearing to see almost every Indian player stepping up in different games at different junctures to usher their side to some unlikely wins. The collective performances are indeed even greater reasons for Virat Kohli’s men to feel upbeat about the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

We take a look at three big takeaways from the victory in the T20 series against New Zealand:

Manish Pandey’s emergence as the finisher:

For a long time, India has been searching for a competent finisher for their limited-overs line-up, notably the one who can bat with the lower order and finish with a flourish. Hardik Pandya remains a regular pick, but is highly injury-prone. Ravindra Jadeja blew hot and cold and thus hasn’t been able to play that role properly.

Amid this, Manish Pandey consistently remained on the fringes of the national side, yet made his chance count when handed an opportunity. And the T20 series against the Kiwis was a massive opening to punch his ticket to Australia. The most significant knock off his bat came in the fourth T20I in Wellington when he carried his side to 165 from a precarious position of 88-6 by slamming an unbeaten half-century at number six.

In all other games, the 30-year old remained not out to help his team finish on a high and put up a defendable total on the board. Hence, Manish’s capability as a finisher, which was very underrated at the start of the series, became a crucial factor by the end.

Death-bowling support:

The development of Jasprit Bumrah was the beginning of India’s end of death-bowling troubles. But a limited-overs team requires a maximum of two death bowlers to keep the batsmen in check. And Mohammed Shami’s rise as a death bowler paved the way for Bumrah to operate without any pressure.

Not only the two, but Shardul Thakur also joined their ranks as a competent pace bowler in the slog overs. It was evident when he picked four wickets while defending seven off the last over in the fourth T20I to force a second super over on the bounce. If Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar can also find their way back into the Indian team, then their line-up would become indispensable.

KL Rahul’s meteoric and an unprecedented rise:

KL Rahul’s evolution as India’s most valuable cricketer at present was redefined by his superlative performances in the five-match series. The Karnataka batsman was the highest run-getter with 224 runs at an imposing average of 56 that earned him the man of the series award.

His priceless 224 runs were more worthy since it came according to the match situations. For instance, when chasing above 200 in the first match, he scored 56 off 27 balls and in pursuit of 133 in the second, he took his time and mustered an unbeaten knock of 57 off 50 deliveries. His performance behind the stumps needs polishing; however, it looks like he may have shut the doors on any other wicketkeeper for a while now.

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