3 areas of concern for Team India despite winning the 2nd T20I vs New Zealand

Team India beat New Zealand by 65 runs in Mount Maunganui on Sunday, November 20, in the second T20I of the three-match series. Sent in to bat first after losing the toss, the Men in Blue put up an impressive total of 191/6 on the board courtesy of Suryakumar Yadav’s sensational 111* off 51 balls.

The Indian bowlers then took over and came up with a clinical effort to bowl out hosts New Zealand for 126 in 18.5 overs. Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson scored 61 off 52 but never threatened to take the game away from Team India.

With the ball moving around, Bhuvneshwar Kumar got an early breakthrough for the visitors, dismissing Finn Allen for a duck. Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal then claimed two wickets each, while part-timer Deepak Hooda helped himself to four scalps, with three of them coming in one over.

The Men in Blue will now look to seal the T20I series when they take on New Zealand in the third game in Napier on Tuesday, November 22. Heading into the match, we analyze three areas of concern for Team India.

#1 The Rishabh Pant conundrum

Rishabh Pant walks off after being dismissed by Lockie Ferguson. Pic: Getty Images

The mystery over Rishabh Pant’s failures in the T20I format refuses to end. The think tank keeps giving him chances and he keeps disappointing. This has become a trend of sorts in Indian cricket over the last few months. The bulk of the debate over Team India’s T20 World Cup 2022 campaign focused on whether Pant should be part of the playing XI ahead of Dinesh Karthik.

Karthik played most of the games in the T20 World Cup Down Under. However, with the veteran keeper-batter being dropped from the team for the New Zealand tour and the senior batters rested, Pant got an opportunity to open the innings in Mount Maunganui. The left-hander looked completely out of sorts, managing only six off 13 balls.

It can be argued that it would be unfair to ax Pant from the playing XI after only one low score. However, the southpaw has struggled in the format for a while now.

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Will the team management keep backing the non-performing but exceptionally talented cricketer? This is one conundrum in Indian cricket that refuses to go away.

#2 Overdependence on Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav bats during the 2nd T20I. Pic: Getty Images

Suryakumar has been in exceptional form in T20Is in 2022. Some of the knocks that he has played, including the one in Mount Maunganui, have put him in a league of his own. Very deservedly, the 32-year-old is the No.1 batter in the ICC T20I rankings. There is a flip side to the story though.

Suryakumar's success has dwarfed Team India’s batting woes to quite an extent. Whether playing with a full-strength side or with a second-string one, the Men in Blue have become overdependent on the right-handed batter to deliver the good. On Sunday, Suryakumar contributed 111 out of the team’s total of 191 - which is nearly 58 percent of the runs scored by India in the innings.

Agreed, Kohli was the leading run-getter in the T20 World Cup 2022. However, everyone knew that Suryakumar was going to be the impact player in the semi-final against England. He perished cheaply and, despite half-centuries from Kohli and Hardik Pandya, Team India ended up with a below-par total.

While Suryakumar has been amazingly consistent with his match-winning efforts, the Men in Blue cannot fall into the trap of expecting him to bail them out of crisis situations every time.

#3 The finishing touches

The Men in Blue have struggled to accelerate at the death in some games. Pic: Getty Images

While Team India registered a comprehensive win over New Zealand in the second T20I, they should have put up a 200-plus score on the board. The visitors were 186/3 after 19 overs but managed only five runs in the last over. Shockingly, centurion Suryakumar did not face a single ball in the last over of India’s innings.

Kiwi pacer Tim Southee helped himself to a hat-trick as Hardik Pandya (13), Deepak Hooda (0) and Washington Sundar (0) perished off consecutive deliveries in the last over. There was some extremely poor planning and execution from India’s middle and lower-order batters, as a result of which Suryakumar was left stranded at the non-striker’s end when, ideally, he should have taken most of the strike.

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Team India were lucky to get away with it on Sunday as the bowlers ensured New Zealand did not come close to their total. However, on other days, against stronger opponents, they might have to end up paying a heavy price, especially in the T20 format. Hence, the Men in Blue batters would do well to fine-tune their finishing skills.

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