Hardik Pandya's team India will believe that they got out of the corner in the 2nd T20I that was played in Lucknow on January 29, 2023. The second T20I was played at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow and the pitch curated for the match has invited contrasting reactions from the fans and also from the cricket experts all around the globe. India have assembled a completely new team for the shortest format of the game and it doesn't feature the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Bhuvnewshwar Kumar.
The series as of now stands at 1-1 and the decider will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The Indian team will be wary of the spin prowess that the Kiwis have and they will be well prepared to counter that. Hardik Pandya has stated that the Indian team got a shocker of a pitch in Lucknow, but it certainly can't be used as an excuse. The Indian batters have always been great players of spin and hence, they were expected to counter the conditions in a better manner. Ahead of the final T20I, the players of the Indian cricket team have reached Ahmedabad. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shared the video on their social media platforms which showacses the 'Men in Blue' receiving a grand welcome.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:
Interestingly, in the second T20I, India were given a target of 100, but it took them 19 overs and 5 deliveries to chase this target down and level the series. New Zealand had arrived in Lucknow with a lead of 1-0 and looked all set to win the series, but India had everything to play for in this do-or-die match. The Kiwis won the toss and decided to bat first in the competition and after that, the Indian spinners wrecked havoc on them. Out of the 12 wickets that fell, the spinners ended up taking 6 wickets on a track that viciously turned and had ample amount of problems for both sides.
India's squad: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Prithvi Shaw, Jitesh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Umran Malik
