A HOP across the Cook Strait brings India to Wellington with one hand on the T20I series. A win in the third T20I would seal it, the latest chapter in a rivalry that has swung sharply their way. New Zealand have often been India’s scourge on the biggest stages, but this decade in the shortest format, the ledger reads differently: including the World Cup final in March, India have won 18 of their 21 T20Is against them.
The tour has begun more promisingly than the jet lag and the relentless schedule might have suggested. Shreyas Iyer has won the tosses, and the 8PM starts and evening dew have helped even out the contest. Wellington, though, asks different questions. The square boundaries are less imposing than Hagley Oval’s, but the variables here are harder to read.
The biggest of them could be the wind. India were caught out by it in Ireland during Iyer’s first stint as captain, when the breeze and the bounce proved difficult to negotiate. They will hope those lessons stand them in good stead this time.
They have recovered well since that troubled start in the UK, even if their dominant best is still to come as evidenced by the drawn series at home against the West Indies. With the early acclimatisation hurdles hopefully cleared, bowling coach Morne Morkel believes the performance graph must now climb. The bowling and the batting against spin are the places to start. Tighten those, and a significant series win could be theirs as early as Tuesday.
Team News:
India
The hosts are unlikely to tinker with a balance that worked fine in the last game. With Ishan Kishan out for at least one more game, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi should get another go at No.3