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That costly over from the young left-arm pacer was the turning point as he got smashed for three sixes and a four.
India’s batsmen got off to a poor start with the top three scoring just 15 runs. The hosts scored 155/9, which would have been a par score to defend on the wicket as stated by Washington Sundar after the match.
“150 would have been par and we would have been very happy with that,” said the India all-rounder.
Skipper Pandya, however, is unlikely to bring in uncapped pacer Mukesh Kumar for the second T20I and would probably bounce back Arshdeep.
Kishan, Hooda under scanner
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While Shubman Gill, who has been in scintillating form in ODIs, has played just four T20Is and is still learning the nuances of the shortest format, the bigger worry will be the two key batsmen Ishan Kishan and Deepak Hooda.
Holding the opening spot, Kishan is nowhere near the ominous form shown when he hit a record-breaking ODI double hundred against Bangladesh last December.
Since then, Ishaan’s scores in the last seven innings in both ODIs and T20Is read 37, 2, 1, 5, 8 no, 17 and 4.
If one only considers T20Is, it has been a while since he scored a fifty against South Africa on June 14, 2022.
Hooda has also not found much success as a lower-middle-order batsman, averaging just 17.88 in the last 13 innings, with a highest score of 41 not out against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede.
His knock of 10 off 10 balls at No.7 on Friday didn’t seem to make an impact and the rotation of the strike also came under scrutiny, especially when the New Zealand spinners were bowling.
While India are unlikely to try out newcomer Jitesh Sharma in the wicketkeeper-batsman role in the middle order on Sunday, time is surely running out for Hooda and Kishan.
Despite Friday’s loss, there was a big positive for India in the form of Washington Sundar, who not only bowled four overs of spin to pick up two wickets but also finished as India’s top-scorer with a 28-ball 50 at No.6.
With No. 1 ranked T20 international batsman Suryakumar Yadav in blistering form, India will need someone in the top-order to step up their game and hit some big hits, considering the big boundaries here at the Ekana Stadium.
The Kiwis, on the other hand, would be looking for another win in India to seal a memorable series win. They will once again rely heavily on the in-form pairing of Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell.
Teams (from)
India: Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi and Mukesh Kumar.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, Dane Cleaver (wk), Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Rippon, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy, Henry Shipley and Ben Lister.
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