T20 World Cup: India, New Zealand look to bounce back after Pakistan defeats

Both India and New Zealand will look to bounce back from their respective defeats against Pakistan as they take on each other in the T20 World Cup Super 12 clash in Dubai on Sunday. 

Pakistan broke their World Cup jinx against India with an emphatic 10-wicket win in their Super 12 opener last Sunday and continued that momentum into their next game against the Kiwis, beating Kane Williamson’s side by five wickets. 

Babar Azam and co defeated Afghanistan on Friday to make it three wins from three and sit pretty atop the standings in Group 2, with their place in the semifinals virtually booked. 

That makes it all the more important for both India and New Zealand to win Sunday’s encounter and keep their hopes of making the final four alive. 

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It wont be
easy against a quality Blackcaps unit, with the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult especially
having been a nemesis for the Indians in big games.

However,
their soft underbelly is batting where Williamson is still not firing at his fluent best and Martin Guptill also had a foot injury. It’s effective without being
flamboyant, although, Devon Conway is a flashy batter.

And herein
lies India’s chance but for that, their bowlers need to implement the game
plans perfectly, something they couldn’t against Pakistan.

Even more
important will be execution from two players on whom the team management has
heavily invested — a half-fit Hardik Pandya and an out-of-form Bhuvneshwar
Kumar, who have been the weak-links of this Indian team. Hardik, who has not
been the cricketer everyone feared since his back injury, is playing to save
his India career.

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That he
hasn’t exactly been truthful about the status of his bowling capabilities has
been exposed and trying to roll his arm over at the nets speaks volumes of his
desperation. His franchise Mumbai Indians are putting him back in the auction
pool and time, indeed, is running out for him.

Bhuvneshwar
could well be playing his last international tournament. His pace has dropped
remarkably in the past two seasons and somewhere he has not been a patch of
what his younger competitor Deepak Chahar has been in recent years.

Yet, India
have punted on his experience and it’s high-time that he delivers before being
shunned into oblivion.

India have
shown in recent times, at least, in Test arena that they can come back from
brink with unforgettable performances but Kohli in his last assignment as T20
captain would like to change the script that always seemed to go awry at global
events.