Asia

India face New Zealand in ‘virtual quarter final’ for Kohli

October 30, 2021
Henry Club

Virat Kohli He will face the most defining test of his captaincy career as he hopes his men will be a “phoenix rising from the ashes” when India take on a street-smart New Zealand in the ‘do or die’ ICC T20 World Cup. Super 12 match here on Sunday.

After facing a nightmare against Pakistan last Sunday, a match they would like to forget in a hurry, India have a lot of improvement to do against the Kiwis, especially for the players to play the right roles.

It won’t be easy against a quality New Zealander, which will be difficult for India as they lost to Pakistan in their opening game. Tim Southee and Trent Boult, has been a nemesis for Indians, especially in big sports.

However, where his soft underbelly is batting Kane Williamson Still not 100% and Martin Guptill also had a leg injury. It is effective without being flamboyant, however, Devon Conway is a charming batsman.

And here is India’s chance, but for that, their bowlers need to execute the game plan thoroughly, something they could not do against Pakistan.

Even more important will be the performance of two players on whom the team management has invested heavily – a half-fit Hardik Pandya and an out-of-form Bhuvneshwar KumarWho has been the weak link of this Indian team.

Hardik, who hasn’t been a feared cricketer since his back injury, is playing to save his India career.

He hasn’t been quite right about the state of his bowling abilities and trying to get his hands on the nets shows his frustration. His franchise Mumbai Indians is putting him back in the auction pool and time is really running out for him.

Bhuvneshwar may play his last international tournament. His pace has dropped noticeably in the last two seasons and nowhere has he been like his younger contestant Deepak Chahar in recent years.

Nevertheless, India has heeded his experience and it is high time he delivers before he slips into oblivion.

India have shown in recent times, at least, in the Test arena that they can come back from the brink with unforgettable performances, but Kohli in his final act as T20 captain would like to change the script that has always been around for global events. I used to mess up.

What’s more, because one more failure at a mega event could mean that his abilities as white-ball captain will be under threat and the 50-over lead will also be in question.

Kohli is someone who loves it the hard way. He loves a good scrap and a situation where he imagines that the whole world (even if they are not) is out to get him, plotting against him and wanting to see him fail.

He gets an adrenaline rush thinking of a situation from which he is knocking the team out. But lately, Kohli, the captain and Kohli, the batsman are not co-ordinating as before.

There is now a world-class performer, ready to play the waiting game, open the innings and are happy to bat at a strike rate of ‘120-ish’, putting others in the limelight. It is an act of self-preservation that he is doing keeping in mind the best interests of himself and Indian cricket as he is 33 years old with at least six years of top-flight play still left in him.

India’s presence on the business end is not only an emotional necessity for its billions of fans, but also a commercial necessity to maintain its strength for the tournament.

Even after being included in the easy group, where three matches including Afghanistan should literally be a walk-in-park for these stars, who rake in mega mullahs per IPL season but are now out of the tournament early. facing fear.

Pakistan, having already played all their tough games (India, New Zealand and Afghanistan) on six points in the first week of the Super 12, are expected to finish their expected top spots in Group 2.

This leaves both India and New Zealand in a virtual shoot-out situation as whoever wins has a chance to finish on a maximum of eight points and finish second in the group.

Although dew plays an important role in the evening, the toss actually plays a very important role in the outcome of the night’s matches. Kohli will be hoping to at least win the toss and can be sure KL Rahul And co doesn’t have to face Trent Boult’s ‘break back’ swingers when some moisture will be on offer.

Suryakumar Yadav would like to perform better and Rishabh Pant Will definitely want to finish in style after the kind of start we got against Pakistan.

After what Shaheen Shah Afridi did to India, India would certainly be wary of Bolt, who is a more efficient operator than Pakistan, albeit at a lesser pace.

In short, Kohli is facing an acid test of his leadership career, which is reaching business end.

Teams (from):

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mark Chapman, Adam Milne, Kyle Jamieson, Todd Astle.

The match will start at 7:30 PM IST. PTI KHS

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