India vs New Zealand, Highlights: Rohit guides hosts to clean sweep in his first series as full-time captain

The
Indian
skipper
first
made
a
statement
scoring
56
off
31
balls
in
India’s
184
for
7
and
then
made
some
immaculate
captaincy
calls
which
witnessed
New
Zealand’s
surrender
for
a
paltry
111
runs
in
17.2
overs.
It
was
a
second
back-to-back
bilateral
T20I
series
triumph
with
a
clean
sweep
for
India
after
beating
the
Black
Caps
5-0
in
their
own
den
in
2020.

1

51918

Axar
Patel
(3/9)
bowled
accurately
and
also
got
one
to
turn
as
his
three
wickets
in
Powerplay
literally
ended
New
Zealand’s
resistance
and
the
rest
was
a
mere
formality.

The
New
Zealand
team
looked
bone
tired
after
a
gruelling
T20
World
Cup
campaign
and
the
result
won’t
be
a
fair
reflection
of
the
team’s
capabilities
as
they
went
through
the
motions
for
the
better
part
of
the
three
games.

For
India,
who
were
aiming
to
reset
the
button,
the
series
win
will
certainly
give
them
a
few
pointers
going
forward.

For
Rohit
and
head
coach
Rahul
Dravid,
this
series
was
about
checking
what
kind
of
ammunition
they
have
going
forward.
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar
and
Ravichandran
Ashwin’s
return
to
form
in
white
ball
cricket
augurs
well
as
there
is
no
substitute
for
experience.

Venkatesh
Iyer
has
shown
potential
and
needs
to
be
persisted
with.
He
bowled
steadily
and
needs
more
game
time
to
become
a
middle-order
enforcer
having
been
a
top-order
player.
Harshal
Patel
is
a
welcome
addition
with
his
sincere
efforts
but
the
middle
order
still
remains
a
bit
iffy
as
it
didn’t
perform
up
to
expectation
in
any
of
the
games.

A
few
like
Ruturaj
Gaikwad
and
Avesh
Khan
went
untested
but
the
skipper
will
surely
use
all
his
options
going
forward.
But
what
he
has
shown
like
his
predecessor,
Virat
Kohli
is
ability
to
walk
the
talk
with
performances
that
his
mates
will
look
up
to.

When
India
batted,
Rohit’s
imperious
form
was
on
full
display
as
he
laid
the
platform
for
an
above
par
score.
In
his
bid
to
test
the
team’s
character
by
batting
first,
the
skipper
led
the
way
with
five
fours
and
three
sixes
in
his
sublime
knock
but
despite
a
blazing
start,
the
Indians
stuttered
in
the
middle
overs
before
Harshal
Patel
(18
off
11
balls)
and
Deepak
Chahar
(21
not
out
off
8
balls)
used
their
long
handles
which
fetched
50
runs
in
last
five
overs.

Ishan
Kishan
(29
off
21
balls),
Shreyas
Iyer
(25
off
20
balls)
and
Venkatesh
(20
off
15
balls)
all
got
starts
but
couldn’t
convert
it
into
a
big
score.

Having
got
two
flashy
back-to-back
boundaries
off
the
very
first
over
by
Trent
Boult,
there
was
no
looking
back
for
Rohit.
There
was
no
preferential
treatment
as
all
the
fast
bowlers
were
treated
with
equal
disdain
as
he
and
Kishan
made
full
use
of
the
Powerplay
overs,
which
yielded
69
runs.

Rohit
pulled
Boult
behind
square
for
his
first
six
and
hit
Adam
Milne
(0/47
in
4
overs)
over
long-on
for
the
second
maximum
and
the
third
off
Lockie
Ferguson
was
another
pull
behind
the
square
into
the
stand
below
the
giant
electronic
scoreboard.

Post
Powerplay,
stand-in
captain
Mitchell
Santner
(4-0-27-3)
was
able
to
pull
things
back
as
Kishan
edged
an
arm
ball
into
the
keeper’s
gloves
while
Suryakumar
Yadav
(0)
played
a
loose
shot
to
a
tossed
up
delivery
giving
an
easy
catch
to
the
cover,
much
to
the
irritation
of
his
skipper.

Rohit’s
frustration
was
compounded
when
Rishabh
Pant
went
for
an
ugly
hoick
to
give
Santner
his
third
wicket
in
his
second
over.
But
Rohit
didn’t
allow
the
fall
of
wicket
to
bog
him
down
as
he
got
his
fifty
with
a
deliberate
cut
through
the
vacant
third-man
area
off
his
opposite
number.
His
sequence
of
scores
in
last
six
T20
Internationals
is
74,
30,
56,
48,
55
and
56
and
captaincy
hasn’t
changed
his
style
of
play
one
bit.

It
took
a
brilliant
one-handed
reflex
catch
from
Ish
Sodhi
to
dismiss
Rohit.
Sodhi
tried
to
bowl
wide
off
Rohit’s
reach
but
gave
enough
air,
which
enticed
him
to
give
the
charge
without
getting
to
the
pitch
of
the
delivery.