The Men in Blue will look to wrap up another T20I series as they lock horns against Black Caps for the decider in Ahmedabad. Prithvi Shaw is a part of the squad for the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand; however, the young opener received no playing time as Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill were given preference in the first two games.
In the absence of senior players from both sides, the teams have looked to test their bench strength which has invited a plethora of varied opinions. Suryakumar Yadav showed immense mental application on a tricky surface as the batter scored 26 runs in 31 balls where he struck 1 four.
Gautam Gambhir on Prithvi Shaw
Gautam Gambhir was having an interaction with Star Sports and was asked about Prithvi Shaw.
“I feel you have got to give him an opportunity, and you have to give him a longer rope, especially in the T20 format, because I see him opening the batting in 2024 if the selectors have started to look beyond Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. You have to persist with Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan, and those guys can actually go out there and play with the template we have spoken about for such a long time.” Gautam Gambhir.
Conundrum for Management
In a year that has the ODI World Cup, the Indian team looks quite certain with Shubman Gill in the 50 over format alongside Rohit Sharma. The 23-year-old has made a mountain of runs already including two centuries and a 208 against New Zealand in Hyderabad. However, the stats in the T20Is do not go in his favor having made only 76 runs across 5 matches since his debut against Sri Lanka this year.
As for New Zealand, it is history at stack as the Kiwis have never won a bilateral series in India in any format, apart from a one-off T20I back in 2012. Their current captain Mitchell Santner expressed how the series has helped the team in understanding the conditions they will face during the ODI World Cup later this year, however they will have to do better with their second string pace attack to challenge the in-form Indian attack.
Also Read: India Overcomes The Kiwi Challenge With Ease