After the rain denied any play in the first game, it was important for all stakeholders to get a game on Sunday, November 20 and it subsided in Mount Maunganui by the time match started as everyone’s prayers were answered. The second T20I between India and New Zealand at the packed Bay Oval began on time after the home skipper Kane Williamson chose to bowl first in overcast conditions.
While New Zealand made the sole expected change with pacer Adam Milne coming in, in place of left-arm pacer Trent Boult, Team India threw in a lot of surprises. The Indian team went in with the T20 World Cup squad members including the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Hooda in place of Sanju Samson and Umran Malik. There was no Shubman Gill or Harshal Patel to be seen anywhere as well, as the fans were left disappointed, especially with another omission of Samson.
Samson, who has been in and out of the T20 side missed out on a place in the T20 World Cup squad. However, with the T20 team set to go through a revamp, there was an expectation that Samson could become a regular, but that wasn’t the case. The reactions flooded social media as the fans suggested that even after so many debacles, nothing is going to change with this team.
Samson, who led the Rajasthan Royals to the final of the IPL 2022, was part of the squad for the Ireland series but not in England. He was part of the squad for West Indies but then was snubbed from Asia Cup squad. Considered one of the best impact players in the middle-overs, Samson played the last two T20Is in West Indies and all three ODIs, followed by the Zimbabwe series, however, the inconsistency in his selection has been constant. In 6 T20Is, Samson has played in 2022, he averages 44.75 with a strike rate of 158.41.
India’s playing XI for 2nd T20I: Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya(c), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal
