Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 22 : Following India's win over New Zealand in the first T20I, former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull hailed Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh for their knocks, pointing out how the latter has not played enough T20I cricket for his country and should have played 100 matches by now for his abilities as a finisher.
Abhishek continued his mean streak at the top with an explosive 35-ball 84 laced with five fours and eight sixes while Rinku's quickfire 44* in 20 balls helped India reach 238/7 in 20 overs during their first T20I against the Kiwis at Nagpur, which they won by 48 runs. After featuring heavily in the Indian set-up from 2023-24 with 30 matches under his belt, Rinku could get only five T20Is and three innings under his belt last year, scoring 43 runs with the best score of 30. However, after his inclusion in the T20 WC squad, Rinku has made the best of the chance he got at the start of this year and would be eyeing more fiery knocks as a finisher to seal his spot as a sure starter for the World Cup.
Speaking during the 'Cricket Live', JioStar expert Simon said, "The power game of Abhishek at the top is just a pleasure to watch. The way he hits the ball on the offside as well as the leg side, he does not really go cross-bat a lot. It is more of a straight bat, even off the spinners. He just rolls the wrists, gets the timing as well. Then you go through that order down to Rinku Singh, who is one of the best finishers. We saw him burst onto the scene in the IPL, maybe four or five years ago. I still think he hasn't played enough T20 cricket for India in that time. I thought he should have played a lot more; he should have played 100 games by now. I think he just needs to be batting in that finishing role. He is a brilliant finisher and, being such a short man but really powerful, his ability to get under the ball late in the piece makes him so hard to bowl at."
Since his debut in 2023, Rinku has represented India in 36 T20Is, with 594 runs at an average of 45.69 and a strike rate of 165, with three fifties in 26 innings and a best score of 69*.
He also pointed out how India were not complacent despite defending a big total of 239, with Arshdeep setting the tone with an early wicket of Devon Conway. Doull also spoke on bowlers expected to start off the bowling for the remainder of the series and during the middle-overs, and expressed concerns over spin all-rounder Axar Patel, who walked off the field after a blow to his finger while taking a catch.
"It is quite easy to get a little bit complacent when you've got such a big total to defend, but I don't think they were. Up front, I thought it was really nice starting over from Arshdeep Singh. We expect the role of opening the bowling to be Hardik Pandya's throughout the rest of this series and through the World Cup, and they will use Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy through the middle more often than not, so I think that's going to be a role they'll look forward to. The concern will be around Axar. Hopefully, he is okay. He is such a key part of this side, not only with the ball but with the bat in the field. So, I think they predominantly stuck to their task really well. Outside of a few bits of fielding, fielding was not really up to scratch, but India were just a little more polished, I think," he concluded.
Coming to the match, NZ elected to field first. Incredible knocks from Abhishek Sharma (84 in 35 balls, with five fours and eight sixes) and Rinku Singh (44* in 20 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) along with important cameos from skipper Suryakumar Yadav (32 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Hardik Pandya (25 in 16 balls, with three fours and a six) took India to 238/7 in 20 overs.
Jacob Duffy (2/27) and Kyle Jamieson (2/54) were the top bowlers for NZ.
During the chase, the Kiwis were down at 52/3, but a 79-run stand between Phillips and Mark Chapman (39 in 24 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) gave the Kiwis a glimmer of hope. However, Chakravarthy (2/37) and Arshdeep Singh (1/31) delivered fine spells to restrict NZ to 190/7 in 20 overs, giving India a win and a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.