Team India started their journey under new coach Rahul Dravid with a fashionable series win against New Zealand at MS Dhoni’s hometown. How convincing that victory was, how convincing that night was Ranchi! KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and IPL Purple Patel aka Harshal Patel made it look so easy for Team India on Friday.
Harshal Patel was the player of the match for his terrific figures of 2/25 on India debut. Harshal was the star bowler in IPL 2021, where he bagged 32 wickets and equalled Dwayne Bravo’s most wicket record in a season. There was talk that he might be drafted to the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup but nothing changed the selectors’ mind post IPL.
India had one of the most horrific tournaments at the T20 World Cup this year. They were crushed by Pakistan in the first match and New Zealand in the game later. However, the Virat Kohli-led side has registered comfortable victories against Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia.
But how bitter it is for New Zealand who recently finished the marquee tournament in the UAE as runners-up. Two back-to-back defeats to the team who are at the top are every time you think of them but they were in very poor form in the UAE tournament.
