IND vs NZ 1st T20: Guptill praises Ashwin, says clever bowler

New Zealand openers Martin Guptill India’s Ravichandran Ashwin finds it “very difficult to go away” as the off-spinner has impeccable control over his line, length and pace.

Ashwin has impressed ever since he made a comeback with the white ball after four years. He was dominant in the T20 World Cup and changed the course of the first T20 on Wednesday by removing two New Zealand batsmen in the same over. He had removed Mark Chapman and Tim Seifert from a well set up.

“He’s a very smart bowler. He’s got a lot of control over his line and length. He doesn’t just bowl bad deliveries. I don’t remember him bowling any bad deliveries in his entire career.

“The change in his pace is so subtle and controlled that it’s very difficult to overcome,” Guptill said in a post-match conference call. The opener scored 70 runs in 42 balls but his team lost the game by five wickets.

After losing in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday, New Zealand have now lost back to back matches.

“We haven’t played bad cricket in the last two matches. It’s just that we’re on the wrong side. That’s how cricket can go. It’s definitely different (scheduling). Two days ago a World Cup final and then another Jump on the plane and here we are, playing another game in India.”

Guptill put on a 109-run partnership with Mark Chapman to take New Zealand to 164 for six, a total that they felt were 10 runs short.

“Losing Daryl Mitchell in the first over wasn’t ideal, but embraced the way Chappy (Chapman) didn’t play a lot of cricket recently to come and spend some time in the middle and set up 100 partnerships with him.” For the death stage, really help the team reach that competitive total.

“We were still 10 run shorts where we could have been, I don’t think we did as well at the end of the death phase as we could have, but it could have happened.” Well done for Guptill, “When they (India) came back from a fairly quick start, to lose within a few balls, we weren’t very far away,” said Guptill.

He said that India tour is a good opportunity for those cricketers who have not played in the country.

“Yeah, that’s cool, isn’t it? I mean, Rachin wasn’t expected to play on this tour. Jimmy had a little bit of a stomach ache, you know, and apparently Chappie and Todd are finding time too. Is .”