Does a winning start augur well for India?

By K.R. Nayar

Did India avenge their defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the T20 World Cup 2021? From the result point of view, yes, since they beat the World Cup finalist by five wickets with two balls to spare at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, on Wednesday in the first of the threematch T20 International series.

Whether India can take full credit for this victory is debatable. Many believe that New Zealand is a tired team. But if that is so, the Indian players are also tired since most of them were playing in the Indian Premier League before the World Cup. Also, they have played only two matches lesser than New Zealand in the World Cup.

Questions are being raised as to how can players be made to play continuously without a break for so long. But fans don’t seem to be not bothered about that and want to see them in action. The Sawai Mansingh Stadium was packed to the brim. Moreover, the revenue that the board would stand to lose if such a series is not held is huge.

Yesterday’s contest was without the two captains who led their respective teams in the T20 World Cup, India’s Virat Kohli and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson. But all others too have been playing continuously and been in the bubble as well. So that brings up the question again whether such a tight schedule is needed when players are experiencing bubble fatigue. The other point to consider is whether there is a solution to this issue.

What is creditable is that despite losing the toss, the Kiwis posted a fighting total of 164 for 6. Considering they were batting first after they lost the toss, had they posted another 20 runs more, the story of the match could have been different.

New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, who had not played in the recent T20 World Cup, cracked 63, while opener Martin Guptill chipped in with 70 runs. Interestingly, Chapman was picked only for the two warm up matches here before the World Cup. He grabbed the opportunity yesterday to prove that he was a fine batsman in this format. Incidentally, he was born in Hong Kong and had played for Hong Kong in international cricket. He joins the list of batsmen, who despite playing for an associate country, went on to make a mark in international cricket.

The match was also a peep into India’s bowling strength without Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur. This match once again proved that Ravichandran Ashwin should be an essential part of the Indian team’s bowling. It was his two wickets that helped India get control of the match. It must have been a relief for the team to see Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling brilliantly with the new ball. In fact, it was his 19th over that he conceded only five runs and helped India chase a gettable target.

The team must have been equally relieved to have Suryakumar Yadav, the Player of the match, back in form. With skipper Rohit Sharma too chipping in with 48 runs, it was a winning start for coach Rahul Dravid.

For what’s in store in this series, one will have to wait and see. Other questions that will be asked are whether India can pull off a win even if they lose the toss, and will they override the dew if forced to encounter it?