Discarded Indian batter Hanuma Vihari backed the veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar to come back stronger in the second T20I and requested fans to give the pacer some time to settle in.
Notably, Bhuvneshwar couldn’t create an impact in his comeback T20I, conceding 49 runs in his four-over spell without picking up a wicket. Interestingly. His spell also included a no-ball. Nevertheless, Vihari, while speaking on his YouTube channel, backed the veteran seamer.
“Everyone was waiting for his comeback. The first over was fabulous. He beat Seifert with an outswinger. He bowled in the right areas. But that no-ball in the second over changed everything for him. That over was expensive and maybe he lost some confidence from there on. Not a comeback we anticipated. But it’s okay. He is playing after a long time. Give him a couple of games. We know what he can do when he gets into that rhythm. He is experienced and he will correct it. After all, he is also human,” Vihari said on his YouTube channel.
While every Indian bowler turned out to be expensive in the first T20I, Vihari picked Nitish Reddy as the best among the lot for bowling well in the difficult phase. He went on to add that the victory was one of the best for India in recent times.
“Everyone was expensive. I thought Nitish was the best bowler. There is no bias. When he came into the attack, it was a difficult phase. The batters were set. He bowled the important overs, and I thought he bowled terrifically well. His pace was decent, and he bowled four overs, so credit to him,” he added.
“In recent times, this is one of the best wins for India in T20Is. Playing away from home against a strong New Zealand side. No doubt, winning the toss was important. But the boundaries were big. Proper big boundaries. So chasing 220 on such grounds is not an ordinary thing. When New Zealand got 220, I thought it would be challenging for India and they would have to bat out of their skins,” he concluded.
