THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A little while after the final wicket fell on Wednesday, when India suffered a 50-run defeat against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam, one question in everyone’s mind was whether the hosts made a mistake by not playing an extra batter. The margin of defeat would have warranted closer scrutiny and could have raised concerns too.
But Wednesday can be seen as a aberration and can be excused as a failed experiment. Since India have already won the series, the result of the match was not of much consequence. Playing the said XI was to try out a few things, put some pressure on the team in different situations and see how they react. Before the big T20 World Cup test India can afford to take a few risks to iron out the flaws.
Going a batter short was one such scenario. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav admitted as much after the game. “We wanted to play five bowlers today and challenge ourselves. We wanted to see what happens if you're chasing 180 or 200 and if we are 2-3 wickets down early. We also wanted to play the guys who are going to the World Cup. We might get the chance in the next game. We might chase again,” said Yadav.
In the middle, Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube showed promise, with the latter smashing the third-fastest T20I fifty by an Indian. Sanju Samson failed to convert the start, Abhishek fell early, and so did Yadav. If there was one player who could have potentially won the match but didn’t get going was Hardik Pandya. He succumbed to the pressure built by spinners Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner in the middle-overs.
Overall, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Yadav would overtly worried but would want to fix any loopholes in their strategy fast. Perhaps Samson's lack of big scores is a concern going into the fifth T20I, where he will play in front of his home crowd for the very first time as and international player.
Apart from that, every member of the squad who is part of the T20 World Cup team has got at least one game in the New Zealand T20Is. When the series began, this was one of the key objectives for the team management. Despite the injury to Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar — the former is expected to get fit in time, and the latter is racing against the clock to make it for the opening game against the USA on February 7 — it is the best preparation they have had for the global event with a full-strength squad. And all 14 players have taken the field in the last ten days. Ravi Bishnoi played despite not being in the World Cup squad, but he may come in if Washington doesn’t get fit on time.
Ishan Kishan has shown he is ready to step in. Dube has delivered all-round performances. Yadav found form and some runs. Bishnoi was among the wickets. Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy and Pandya showed why the trio is invaluable and should play every game in the World Cup. Then there is Kuldeep Yadav, whom the captain and coach will have to find a way to field alongside Varun, especially in the big games. Rinku and Arshdeep Singh, too, got some game time and runs while Harshit Rana continued to grow.
In fact, the one key factor that has changed from the South Africa T20Is — apart from Shubman Gill getting dropped — is how Axar Patel fits into the playing XI. Still the vice-captain of the team, Axar was batting anywhere between No 3-6 in the last year and a half. However, he played only one match in the series and might struggle to start every match, especially with Dube in the mix. It might come down to opponents and conditions, along with the availability of Tilak and Washington, when the World Cup comes along. The middle-order is already too crowded with left-handers and sloggers, and Axar’s role in the team has become a bit of a question.
Having said that, Axar is one such player who has delivered irrespective of the role he gets to play. It was evident in the 2024 T20 World Cup final, where he arguably played the most important knock that allowed Virat Kohli to settle in and take the innings deep. Which is why it should not surprise anyone if he is back in the XI for the final T20I. After all, it is India’s last chance to do any sort of experimentation before the team shifts to Mumbai, where they will play one warm-up game against South Africa on February 4.
If the team management had a series of boxes to tick before the New Zealand series began, they would have checked most of them. And Saturday offers one last chance for them to have a go at it again.