T20I series: Men in Blue look for a final tune-up before World Cup title-defence

The aura of invincibility at home is something which Indian cricket has generally prided itself on, but perhaps not any longer. The last year-and-a-half has seen it take a number of dents in the more demanding formats: Tests and now ODIs, and it’s left to the T20 outfit to salvage pride against the Kiwis.

The timing of the five-match series, beginning at Nagpur on Wednesday, gives it a major context than the run-of-the-mill bilateral jousts. The reigning World T20 champions get a chance to sharpen their preparations for title defence against a worthy opponent in familiar conditions. It’s almost ironical that India’s T20 team wears the most settled look among three formats and a comprehensive series win here could just be the antidote that their legion of fans are looking for.

No offence, but it’s perhaps fair to say that Gautam Gambhir’s forte is his understanding of the white-ball game — more so the shortest format and hence expectations will be sky-high in the World Cup at home. The head coach and chief selector Ajit Agarkar have been two of the most vilified persons for the past year for a variety of reasons, be it being held responsible for creating a dressing room ethos where the senior players are seen as a liability rather than an asset, indulge in chopping and changing which reflected the duo’s own lack of vision, especially in Tests.

There have been a handful of decisions by the current think tank which has been counter productive, including the one of trying to pitch Shubman Gill as the prime batter and leader in all formats. The selectoral snub on him from the T20 World Cup, less than four months after hoisting him as the deputy to Suryakumar Yadav in the Asia Cup at the expense of utility man Axar Patel, must have been galling for him and it’s a relief to see Shubman being out of the frame of this format — at least for a while.

It’s after quite a while that Shreyas Iyer is back in the T20 mix, thanks to the groin surgery of Tilak Verma, though he will not get a game on Wednesday. Comeback man Ishan Kishan — by the captain's own admission — is expected to bat at number three as left-hander with the captain following him or vice versa.

The few areas of concern that this bunch has is around the form of their captain and the question came up, prompting by now a familiar response from SKY. The ever-smiling captain, poised for his 100th T20I appearance, had been looking explosive at the nets and wanted to carry on the same way when he said: ‘’I don’t want to change my identity as this is the approach which has given me so much success in the last three to four years. If it doesn’t work, then I will go back to the drawing board and practice hard to bring about a change.’’

Elaborating on his lack of runs, the former world No.1 T20 batter said he was not unduly fussed about his own lack of runs as long as the team executed their plans. ‘’See, it’s a team sport at the end of the day and my responsibility is be to look after the other 14 members of the side as well, including the support staff. I am the leader for everyone,’’ he said.

 The shock 2-1 series loss in ODIs did come up for discussion, but SKY promised India would be a different kettle of fish in T20s. ‘’Let’s talk about the T20 format – where you have been seen the kind of cricket we have been playing,’’ he said.

 The Kiwis, who will have added some more quality in their spin department with T20 captain Mitchell Santner back and Rachin Ravindra at the top of the order, have actually matched India well in the past. A head-to-head shows India to be just ahead with 12 wins in 25 encounters, the Kiwis 10 while three matches ended in ties. One simply cannot take things for granted against them!

Catch the match

India vs New Zealand

First T20I in Nagpur, 21 January

Start: 7.00 pm