IND vs NZ 2022-23, 2nd T20I: With no respite from weather, India in Bhuvneshwar Kumar dilemma

Senior seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar faces the challenge of remaining relevant in the shortest format. A young Indian team seeking game time is expected to face tough resistance from New Zealand in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. The series opener in Wellington was abandoned due to inclement weather, and the Indian players must be itching to get onto the park with the most scenic backdrop. Ironically, the region where the ground is located is known as the 'Bay of Plenty', and Indian cricket, at this point, has plenty to ponder as far as its approach in the Twenty20 (T20) format is concerned. While the Wellington Regional Stadium was shorter in terms of dimensions, the Indian team will have to make adjustments as the 'Bay Oval' ground has more extensive side boundaries and is open ground, unlike Wellington.

The Bhuvi Conundrum
On this tour, the presence of a nearly 33-year-old Bhuvneshwar is a dilemma that the team management might have to handle. There are some probing questions; the quicker the answers are sought, the better it will be for Indian cricket. Is Bhuvneshwar going to be around for the T20 World Cup in 2024 with a sharp decline in his pace? Does he have enough time to work around his issues, as he is not potent enough on good batting tracks? Not many T20Is are lined-up next year, and he is mainly becoming a single-format player, so where does it leave him?

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At this moment, all the answers are negative. Hence, playing the senior-most pacer would be akin to taking away an opportunity from a youngster to get into the groove arises. It is a double-edged sword that interim head coach VVS Laxman and captain Hardik Pandya will be facing. Not playing Bhuvneshwar when he is on the cusp of a personal milestone (four more wickets for the highest tally of 40 in a calendar year) may leave him demoralised.

Most of Bhuvi's 36 wickets have come in bowler-friendly conditions against lesser opponents. On slightly flatter wickets and against better batting attacks, Bhuvneshwar has become a cropper. But, playing him will be a missed opportunity for the team management to check out how the pair of pacers Umran Malik and Mohammed Siraj would match up against the might of players like Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips and Devon Conway in pressure situations. Umran, India's fastest bowler by a distance, needs to be groomed. Pakistan has shown with Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah what extreme pace can do.

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Ishan or Shubman, the choice of opener?
The moment wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was named the team's vice-captain for the T20I series, it was a given that he would be opening. But, whether opener Shubman Gill with his newfound confidence in this format or the specialist wicketkeeper-opener Ishan Kishan will pair up is there to be seen.

In the case of Kishan, who has had troubles against genuine pace and swing is preferred, then there will be two left-handers at the top, while Gill's presence will make it a left-right combination. The other factor would be the choice between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Shreyas Iyer, not strictly a fast starter in T20Is and the dynamic all-rounder Deepak Hooda, who can also bowl wicket-to-wicket tight off-breaks. Kishan must be dropped from the playing XI to accommodate Hooda and Shreyas. Sanju Samson and skipper Pandya are the two batters, along with Suryakumar Yadav, who would play the role of enforcers and finishers.

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Chahal vs Phillips match-up
One of the most exciting T20 batters in recent times, wicketkeeper-batter Glenn Phillips, will have a battle in hand when the wily leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal gets his first game in many moons after being inexplicably benched by regular head coach Rahul Dravid throughout the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.

But, the last completed T20I match at this ground witnessed Phillips score 108 off 51 balls with as many as eight sixes against a quality West Indies attack. With all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin's T20I career all but over, fellow all-rounder Washington Sundar will be getting a long run as a specialist off-spinner. At the same time, pacer Harshal Patel will also get game time to get back his rhythm which deserted him just before the T20WC. Seamer Arshdeep Singh, as a left-arm seamer, looks like a sure-shot starter in the next two games.

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Squads
India: Hardik Pandya (c), Rishabh Pant (vc and wk), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan (wk), Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Michael Bracewell, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee and Blair Tickner.

Match details
Date and day: November 20, 2022 (Sunday)
Venue: Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui
Time: 12.00 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): DD Sports
Where to watch (Online): Amazon Prime Video

(With inputs from PTI)