Hardik Pandya breaks silence over who will open the batting for India against New Zealand
India will play a three-match T20I series against New Zealand starting today. If the series is seen from a microscopic lens, then this series will be played keeping the future in mind as the T20I games have come in a year when there is an ODI World Cup, which will be played at home for the first time since 2011.
India’s stand-in captain in T20Is, Hardik Pandya, has said ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand that Prithvi Shaw will have to wait in the wings to get his chance to get back into the Indian T20 side. He also went on to say that Shubman Gill has proved his mettle in whatever opportunities he has been given and will open the batting with Ishan Kishan come the first T20I.
Shubman Gill has made three hundred in the last four ODI innings
“Prithvi Shaw will have to wait for his opportunity as Shubman Gill has done very well and was already part of the T20 team,” Pandya said ahead of the first T20I against New Zealand. Shaw has broken the door down and got back into the Indian side on the back of big runs in the Ranji Trophy. He smashed 379 in the Ranji Trophy to become the highest individual scorer for Mumbai.
Gill did not set the stage on fire in his debut series against Sri Lanka. The right-handed batter scored just 58 runs in the three matches against the Islanders. He had the highest score of 46. He had an average of 19.33 and a strike rate of 131.81 in the series. Gill has been questioned for his slow strike rate in the fast-moving T20I games.
Although he has not set the ball rolling in T20Is just yet, his one-day form over the last few innings has been exceptional for the national side. He has scored three hundreds in the last four ODI innings that he has played for India. He also became the youngest player and fifth Indian to score a double hundred joining the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan.
