Ever since Shreyas Iyer took over the T20I captaincy, Team India’s performance in the shortest format has been tad inconsistent.
India did retain their Asian Games gold under Shreyas’ leadership. But under him, they also endured series losses in Ireland and England, along with a recently concluded 2-2 draw at home against the West Indies.
Away from home, India were largely stumped by the conditions in Ireland and England. The pitches were anything but belters, and India don’t expect anything different going into the first T20I against New Zealand in Christchurch on Thursday.
“If you look at these conditions, fast bowling suits here (Christchurch). It’s not as if the conditions are completely different. But on a given day, no one knows how the wicket will be. So, we will try to acclimatise as early as possible.
“Once we have had some good practice sessions, every individual will get a fair
idea of how to plan,” the captain said.
Although Shreyas feels that his team is playing “consistently”, he also acknowledged that New Zealand would have the home advantage to bank on.
“The advantage they (New Zealand) have is definitely knowing about the different wickets here. So, that’s the only difference.”
Even during the recent Windies series at home, India’s batting group didn’t
find the going to be easy in Indore, where the pitch offered some assistance for the
bowlers. Barring Abhishek Sharma, who hit 69 upfront and Ishan Kishan to an extent, the rest of the batting group had struggled.
There’s no denying India’s firepower in the batting department, especially if the conditions flatten out a little bit. But that apart, fatigue is another aspect Shreyas and his teammates need to deal with. They have had barely two days to rest since reaching New Zealand following an intense five-match series against the Windies.
“We’ve done that in the past, though, especially after finishing the Afghanistan series. We went to Ireland, and we got a couple of more matches in between. But it’s fun at the same time to be travelling, playing and getting accustomed to new conditions.
“We just want to put the reasons aside and see to it how we would be planning to
win. That’s the chat going on inside the dressing room,” Shreyas said.
Vaibhav’s exposure
Talking about Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas said the explosive teenager has to wait and focus on gaining exposure as he cannot just “walk into the XI”. “Our openers (Sanju Samson and Abhishek) have been doing well, so it’s not like he can walk in. He (Vaibhav) is very young and has more years to get opportunities.
“It’s important that a talent like him should always be happy around the dressing room. Next time when he’s here in these conditions, he will be very well prepared,” Shreyas said.