Team India will look to win the series against New Zealand when the two teams clash in Calcutta on Sunday. The hosts won the first two games by a comfortable margin and will be keeping an eye on a similar performance on November 22nd at Eden Gardens.
The series win is India’s third against New Zealand in T20 internationals and the second in a row after the 5-0 win Down Under earlier this year. It is also Rohit Sharma’s first series triumph after becoming India’s short-term permanent captain.
The script has been flawless so far and before Rohit takes the break, a 3-0 rash against New Zealand in City of Joy, where he once scored an epic 264 in an ODI, will be the icing on the cake.
ROHIT & DRAVID’S INDIA
The Men in Blue have shown themselves to be a well-oiled machine since Rohit and the new coach Rahul Dravid, although Virat Kohli was not on the team. They won the first match with 5 wickets and the second with 7 wickets, but could look like a bat and try to defend a result in the series finals if Rohit wins the throw.
Another thing India could do is test its inexperienced bank by giving Ruturaj Gaikwad and the vacant Avesh Khan in Calcutta a chance just to see if they have what it takes after their stellar shows in the world recent Indian Premier League to play at the highest level (IPL) in the United Arab Emirates in 2021.
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Gaikwad, who came into the series with an Orange Cap in the IPL, could take a look at the top three, where he beats the most comfortably. But for this either the skipper himself or his deputy KL Rahul has to take a break from the game, which is more of academic interest and offers an ideal prerequisite for checking the bank’s strength.
Likewise, the exciting Avesh Khan could be tried in place of Deepak Chahar or Bhuvneshwar Kumar while Yuzvendra Chahal wouldn’t mind getting a game in place of Axar Patel or Ravichandran Ashwin.
For coach Rahul Dravid, a dominant performance in these games will also help calm the nerves for the new role before the marquee testing series against the same rivals begins in less than a week.
Having already won the series, Rohit and Dravid now want to strike a balance between winning and trying out all the resources available to see how each one is placed.
KIWIS LOOK FOR CONSOLE
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For New Zealand, it’s more about getting the job done on a tough schedule that will play five games (since the T20 toilet semifinals) in less than two weeks.
The inhumane scheduling means that a 3-0 defeat without the services of skipper Kane Williamson will hurt but not drain the egos as the results of the bilateral negotiations count very little in the long run.
DEW AN ERROR IN THE EDEN
Eden Gardens is expected to be a battering beauty and by November Tau will no doubt make it easy for any team beating second. Dew played a role in the first two games in Jaipur and Ranchi as winter sets in India.
Captains prefer to hunt on this ground for this reason, with 160 being the average score on this place. The iconic stadium has to date hosted 77 T20s, which have won the team chase 46 times, compared to 31 wins for the batting team.
Teams
India Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vc), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan, Mohd Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan.
New Zealand Tim Southee (Captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert and Ish Sodhi.
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