The capacity crowd in Ranchi had many reasons to cheer on Friday night despite New Zealand’s victory over India in the first T20I. The fans were treated to a fantastic performance by Washington Sundar, who shone in all three departments of the game, including batting, bowling and fielding. Suryakumar Yadav’s batting was also a highlight, as he played a valiant knock even in a difficult situation. However, none of these moments came close to the noise created when the crowd spotted their own MS Dhoni on the big screen.
Cameras turned towards MS Dhoni, who was there to watch the series opener with his wife Sakshi, briefly during the New Zealand innings, which was enough to send the Ranchi crowd into a frenzy. Dhoni acknowledged the crowd with a quick wave of the hand, only to turn up the decibels by a few notches. The former Indian captain continues to have a huge fan following, even a couple of years after his international retirement.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, during a post-match show on Star Sports, was asked about the crazy fan following Dhoni continues to have. The right-arm seam bowler and left-handed batter came up with a stunning reply. “It’s a great feeling actually. You sort of feel, you can fly under the radar. No one is really there to watch you bat or bowl. Everyone is there to watch someone else. I always quite enjoyed it to be honest, coming to India knowing that the pressure will be on someone else,” Neesham said.
The Hardik Pandya-led Indian side, however, failed to give a victory to Dhoni on his home ground as New Zealand romped to a 21-run victory to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Opener Devon Conway made 52 off 35 balls and Mitchell smashed an unbeaten 59 as the Kiwis posted 176-6 after being invited to bat first in Ranchi.
New Zealand, who suffered a 3-0 whitewash in the one-day internationals, restricted the hosts to 155-9. Skipper Mitchell Santner stood out with figures of 2-11 with his left-arm spin while fellow spinner Michael Bracewell and fast bowler Lockie Ferguson also took two wickets each.
The Indian team has been facing a lot of criticism for their poor performance in the T20I series. Former cricketer, Aakash Chopra, pointed out that the opening combination of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill is not working well for India at the moment. He stated that the openers misfired once again and thus, India eventually failed to register a win. Gill has a highest of only 36 in his last 12 innings in T20Is and thus, Chopra believes that it hasn’t been a fantastic story for Gill in the shortest format of the game so far. He also stated that the start wasn’t good for India and thus, the match slipped from their hands.
