Ajay Jadeja, the former India cricketer, lamented that Virat Kohli and co. “pressed the panic button” even before the T20 World Cup 2021 game against New Zealand. But, according to the former middle-order batsman Ajay Jadeja, New Zealand was dominant over the Indians much before the toss in Dubai, which was evident in the Men in Blue’s team selection.
With middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav unfit for the game, India brought dashing opener Ishan Kishan into the playing XI. However, he opened the innings with KL Rahul, while Rohit Sharma moved down to number three and captain Virat Kohli pushed himself down to number four.
Ajay Jadeja: India Pressed The Panic Button Before The Toss As Was Evident In Team Selection
Ajay Jadeja opined that India’s surprising moves clearly indicated they were unsure of their plans. Ishan Kishan opened the batting along with KL Rahul while Rohit Sharma dropped to No. 3, but even that move didn’t work. Ishan Kishan scored just 4 runs from 8 balls, while Rohit Sharma made 14 from as many balls in India’s below-par total of 110 for 7 in 20 overs.
“New Zealand were dominant on India even before the game started. India pressed, what I could call the panic button, before the toss with the team they picked. Then, losing the toss was also a big setback. Obviously, that wasn’t in India’s hands. But the openers (Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul) who walked in were a surprise. There were more surprises at numbers three (Rohit Sharma) and four (Virat Kohli) as well,” Ajay Jadeja elaborated.
Ajay Jadeja added: “By the time New Zealand came out to bat, nothing was left in the game. There were only faint hopes, which also disappeared the way they bowled in the first six overs.”
The 50-year-old also lashed out at the Indian think-tank for playing “musical chairs” with the opening slot. He described the top-order batters as the star performers in any T20 line-up.
Ajay Jadeja added: “The simplest funda of T20 is that the top order should be your strongest suit. The best players bat at the top because there are only 120 balls. If you are unsure about it, then your starting on the wrong foot. The debate over the last few days was over Hardik Pandya’s bowling and whether Shardul Thakur should play. But they lost the plot with the confusion in the top order, which is the star power of any batting side in T20s.”
Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli all perished cheaply against New Zealand as India lost their first four wickets with only 48 on the board within 10 overs. Their net run rate was below 5, and the pressure to not lose wickets besides accelerating run-rate was a tough ask for India’s next in line batsmen.
They ended up posting 110 for 7 in stipulated 20 overs, in which they didn’t effectively score runs in nine of those overs (54 dot balls). Worse, they were just able to hit a single boundary between overs 8 and 15 when two spinners-Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner, were in operation.
Virender Sehwag : Only Positive Was Hardik Pandya Bowling
According to former India opener Virender Sehwag, it is difficult to find any positive from the team’s lacklustre showing against New Zealand. He pointed out that while Hardik Pandya’s bowling was a good sign, it came a little too late as New Zealand was already in course for a resounding win.
Virender Sehwag said while reflecting on India’s loss against New Zealand: “The only positive for India was that Pandya bowled. But it really won’t matter whether he bowls or not or even doesn’t play in the next few games.”
Rather surprisingly, Hardik Pandya came on to bowl against New Zealand. But by the time he took the ball, only the formalities remained as the Kiwis were in total control. Hardik Pandya conceded 17 runs in 2 overs.