India’s fast bowlers made an impressive start, reducing New Zealand to 58/3 early in the innings. Gill continued to rely heavily on his pace attack after the initial breakthroughs and also introduced Nitish Kumar Reddy into the bowling rotation. Kuldeep was brought into the attack only in the 17th over, during which he bowled a short spell of three overs. Jadeja, on the other hand, had to wait until the 30th over before making his first appearance with the ball.
“Personally, I think Shubman missed a stroke by bowling just three overs off Kuldeep in the middle overs, and then he waited until the 37th-38th over. Even Jadeja was stopped until the 30th over, those are the guys who can get you the wickets. That’s where India went a bit wrong,” Rahane said on Cricbuzz.
Former Indian cricketer Zaheer Khan also echoed Rahane’s views and stated that it was far too late to introduce a bowler of Jadeja’s caliber only after the 30-over mark.
“More than Kuldeep, it was Ravindra Jadeja’s late entry into the bowling attack. Perhaps the thought was to give Nitish Reddy some more game time and overs under his belt in a match situation, but that leaves you a bit paralyzed with your options. If you bring in your second spinner at number 30, then you are almost certain that he will not meet his quota of overs,” Zaheer said.
However, Rahane praised Gill for his decision to hand the new ball to Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh while keeping Mohammed Siraj back for later in the innings. India had brought Arshdeep into the playing XI in place of Prasidh Krishna, and the move paid immediate dividends as the left-arm pacer dismissed Henry Nicholls for a golden duck in the very first over.
“It was the perfect plan (to start with Harshit and Arshdeep with the new ball), Arshdeep can swing the ball both ways and Harshit is doing very well. Siraj can adapt, he can bowl with the new ball, he can be the first changer and also bowl with the old ball,” Rahane said.
Gill needs to read the phases of the game: Rahane
Rahane advised Gill to introduce the spinners immediately after the fielding restrictions were lifted and then assess how to handle their spells based on how they responded.
“From the captain’s perspective, you have to read the phases of the game, you have to bring your spinners early, especially if you are going to bowl first. If you can turn on the spinner after 10 overs, just to see if anything is bought off the wicket, you can stop the spell at any time and bring it back later,” Rahane concluded.
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