As Team India gear up to lock horns with New Zealand in the first T20I of the three-match series on Wednesday (November 17) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, a nine-year-old tweet by newly appointed T20I skipper Rohit Sharma is doing rounds on social media.
Interestingly, Rohit led Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team for the first time in 2012 in Jaipur and now, the Hitman is all set to begin his T20I captaincy chapter in the same city.
“Touched down on Jaipur, and yes I will be leading the side, looking forward to the added responsibility,” Rohit had tweeted on November 7 in 2012. Incidentally, the statement fits in perfectly even today as the opening batter is set to make his as Team India’s full-time T20I skipper.
First time Rohit Sharma ever led Mumbai in Ranji Trophy was in Jaipur (KL Saini ground) in 2012.
First time Rohit Sharma will lead India as a full-time T20 captain will be in Jaipur pic.twitter.com/vFzFAVqD57
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) November 16, 2021
Talking about the match, India’s template in the shortest format of the game will be in focus as the hosts begin their road for 2022 Men’s T20 World Cup with the first of the three T20Is against New Zealand at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium here on Wednesday.
With just eleven months left to go for the next edition of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, new captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have a resurrection job at their hands.
The disappointment in the recently-concluded Men’s T20 World Cup for India means that there will be auditions and look-ins for youngsters when players like Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are rested.
For Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Avesh Khan and Harshal Patel, the shining stars of second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE, the series presents a chance to push their case for themselves to be in the reckoning for the long run in T20Is. There is also Yuzvendra Chahal, the wily leg-spinner whose exclusion from the World Cup squad raised many eyebrows, to re-establish himself as the main spinner of the team.
At the same time, Sharma and Dravid have to ensure that the refreshed and original template of India in T20Is is in tune with the ever-evolving times in the T20 world, something which the newly-appointed skipper had mentioned about in the pre-match press conference.
“I think the template is a very important one. We just need to set the template right, and we have got some time to do that. Of course, there are some holes that we need to fill up and make sure that they are looked after. That will be the biggest challenge as the team to do that. I’m not saying we should follow certain team’s template. We just have to follow and create our own template, which is best and right for our team,” said Sharma.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have got just three days to move on from their heartbreak in the summit clash against Australia. With Kane Williamson opting out of T20Is to focus on Test series, Tim Southee has got a challenge to inspire his team from bouncing back from the finale loss in Dubai. From top to bottom, New Zealand boast of players who can take up responsibility and single-handedly take the side home.
They will also be priding upon their ability to understand the pitches and conditions quickly and adjust their game as per the same. They also have to fight against a cramped schedule to be fresh and hit the ground running against India. However, expect the Blackcaps to give a tough fight to India with dew coming into equation, again.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel and Mohammad Siraj.
New Zealand: Tim Southee (captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert and Ish Sodhi.
