Former Indian keeper-batter and commentator Dinesh Karthik doesn’t expect India to make any changes for the second T20I against New Zealand on Saturday, October 24, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik advised the Indian team management to push Bhuvneshwar Kumar to No. 8 and bring in a frontline spinner like Varun Chakravarthy. Interestingly, Axar Patel was the lone spinner picked in the XI in the first T20I.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar can bat. In this game, he would have done the job that Nitish Kumar Reddy did, which is to rotate the strike and all, for sure. If they believe in what I say, which is that Bhuvneshwar can bat at No.8, they don’t believe in that right now. He is obviously a better No.9 than a No.8, for sure,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
“You would rather have Axar batting at No.8, and they are almost saying that they might not get wickets through the middle overs, but they still trust Axar to do the job. I quite like this three all-rounder combination. I think it gives them enough room to bowl eight overs among them,” he added.
Interestingly, Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat at No.8 in the 226-run chase in the first T20I against New Zealand on Thursday, October 22. On the other hand, Axar Patel came out at No.6, scoring 24 off 14 balls with three fours and a six.
Delving into the details of the game, New Zealand was tasked with batting first, and they posted a daunting total of 225/4 in 20 overs. Finn Allen (45) and Glenn Phillips (82*) were exceptional with the bat in the first innings.
In the second innings, India sealed the deal in 19.4 overs with four wickets in hand. Sanju Samson (67), Shreyas Iyer (42) and Naman Dhir (42*) were brilliant enough to take their side over the line.
