Ind-NZ: What Should India Do Now?

Put their head on, put their thinking cap on and win. That would be India’s mantra as they try and prevent New Zealand from securing a 2-0 victory with the second Twenty20 match scheduled for Wellington tomorrow.

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In one of the most bizarre lapses in batting that has not been seen from team India in a while, the match at Christchurch was over even before it began. For India, the Twenty20 world champions, it was nothing short of embarrassment to lose to a team that has really lost its handle in the last one year or thereabouts.

Perhaps their worst error in judgement was self inflicted and in that, there is a blessing. India now know what they did wrong, getting carried away by the small ground and Virender Sehwag’s antics, forgetting that this was not a trial session but rather a game played over twenty wholesome overs. Having seen their over confidence and misjudgement come apart and highlighted even more by the steady, comprehensive manner in which New Zealand went about the chase, team India are expected to be better for the experience.

There was an unfair advantage to the batsmen with the ground being smaller, but that should change in Wellington and while India will feel the temptation to field a fifth bowler, that their batting was their undoing may not give the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni the comfort yet to drop one of the all rounders, Irfan Pathan included. Expect no changes from New Zealand either, as Daniel Vettori is unlikely to unnecessarily tinker with a team that won just a day ago.

That it has come so early on tour is also perhaps a blessing given that they did not have a practice match to assess their readiness. With a long tour ahead of them, this reality check, if used appropriately, could prove to the pointer of what not to do on this tour. This is not India’s flat bed, this is New Zealand, expect the unexpected! (like playing cricket on a rugby ground!)

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