Teams of India and New Zealand will face each other in the T20 World Cup match today. This match is going to be very important for both the teams.
India has recently faced a very bad defeat from the Pakistan team.
In such a situation, regarding the upcoming matches of the World Cup, Indian team captain Virat Kohli has said that the mistakes that were made in the last match will be corrected.
He told the news agency Reuters that where there was a mistake in the match with Pakistan, the team understands it.
In the match held at Dubai International Stadium, the Indian team lost by 10 wickets and Pakistan created history. This was India’s first loss to Pakistan in World Cups.
Virat Kohli also denied that the Indian team had taken Pakistan team lightly.
Kohli said, “You can’t take anything lightly there. Especially in front of a team like Pakistan who can beat anyone when they have their day. We respect the game. We never take the rival team lightly. Don’t take it. We don’t even differentiate between rivals.”
The next matches are going to be very important for India in the T20 World Cup. The next challenge is today’s match against New Zealand which is a must win for India to reach the semi-finals.
Looking at the current situation, it is going to be a do or die situation for both India and New Zealand.
- The way to the semi-finals will open
Both these teams of Group 2 have lost their first match to Pakistan and now it is almost impossible for them to reach the semi-finals without beating each other.
Pakistan, New Zealand, India, Namibia, Scotland and Afghanistan have six teams in Group 2. Pakistan has played three matches in this group with India, New Zealand and Afghanistan and won all three. Pakistan have almost confirmed their place in the semi-finals by reaching the top of Group 2.
Only two teams from group two will go to the final. In such a situation, now only one team is left with space. Both India and New Zealand teams will look hard for a place in the semi-finals today.
India and New Zealand are also going to have matches with Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, but why is today’s match so important?
- game of points
Both India and New Zealand are strong teams and have been performing well in big matches. If we assume that both of them win over Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia, then what will be the situation.
In such a situation, both the teams will have 6-6 points.
Now if India beats New Zealand in this match, then it will have a total of eight points and New Zealand will be left on six points. Then Pakistan and India’s place in the semi-finals will be confirmed.
If New Zealand beat India in this match, then New Zealand will have eight points and India will be left with 6 points. In this way Pakistan and New Zealand will enter the semi-finals.
However, these equations will work out only when both India and New Zealand defeat Afghanistan, Scotland and Namibia. But, as nothing is certain in the game, there is always the possibility of a turnaround.
Afghanistan has given a tough fight in the match against Pakistan and has emerged as a fighting team to stay in the match till the end. Afghanistan can also become a challenge for New Zealand and India.
One thing is also being said that the loss of New Zealand to Pakistan has gone in India’s favor. If New Zealand had defeated Pakistan, its score would also have become two and India would have remained at zero.
After losing to Pakistan, India is no longer dependent only on its performance, but its future rests on which team is defeating whom. If two teams tie the points in the Super 12 stage, then different methods will have to be adopted to get a place in the semi-finals. Net run rate will play an important role in this.
- Challenges for India
As important as this match is for India, as much are its challenges. India had to face a very bad defeat against the Pakistan team in their first match itself. This would have affected the morale of the team.
Pakistan beat India by 10 wickets while New Zealand managed to take wickets from Pakistan. However, India’s score was better than New Zealand.
If we look at history, India has not had a good record in the matches with New Zealand in the World Cup.
India won the last match against New Zealand in the World Cup in the 2003 ODI World Cup. After this, New Zealand defeated India in the 2007 and 2016 T20 World Cups.
India had lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals of the 2019 ODI World Cup and also in the final of the 2021 World Test Championship.
To beat New Zealand, the Indian team will have to get out of these pressures and boost their morale. The way Pakistan has won after 12 defeats against India, in the same way Indian team can also write the story of victory.
- Trying to save early wickets
According to experts, for this, the Indian will have to enter the field with the right strategy. He will have to bowl runs at least at the loss of wickets in the powerplay.
India will have to save their opening wickets. The dismissal of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul in the match against Pakistan proved to be a big setback.
Despite being injured in the last match, questions were raised about taking Hardik Pandya in the team. At the same time, considering Shardul Thakur’s excellent performance, there was also a discussion on giving a place in the playing 11. Ishan Kishan and Shardul Thakur can be given place in the team in place of Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
- Challenges facing New Zealand
At the same time, if we talk about New Zealand, in the match with Pakistan, she was able to score only 134 runs. No New Zealand player could score more than 30. Indian bowlers can make it difficult for them in this match.
New Zealand can focus on their batting order. Daryl Mitchell and Martin Guptill did not show anything special as openers and James Neesham came at number four.
At the same time, New Zealand has also seen a lack of a strong player as a match finisher in the pressure final overs. The team may have to consider this.
The Indian team can give full force to win after a big defeat, for which New Zealand will have to be ready.
The toss also matters a lot in these matches being held at the Dubai International Stadium. Most of the matches in this tournament so far have been won by the teams batting later. In such a situation, winning the toss is also going to be important before winning the match.
At present, both India and New Zealand teams are going to be seen putting full emphasis on the ground for the semi-finals today.
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