"Hardik was brilliant with his captaincy and bowling changes" - Parthiv Patel impressed with Pandya's leadership in 2nd IND vs NZ T20I

Former keeper-batter Parthiv Patel praised Hardik Pandya for his impressive captaincy and bowling changes in the second T20I between India and New Zealand at Mount Maunganui on Sunday, November 20.

The Men in Blue beat the Kiwis by 65 runs in a one-sided clash at the Bay Oval. Sent into bat after losing the toss, the visitors posted 191/6 as Suryakumar Yadav smacked an unbeaten 111 off 51 balls. Deepak Hooda then claimed four wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj picked up two each as India cleaned up the hosts for 126 in 18.5 overs.

Apart from Suryakumar, Patel hailed Pandya, who has been named captain for the ongoing T20I series since Rohit Sharma has been rested. Sharing his views on the all-rounder’s leadership in the match, the former cricketer told Cricbuzz:

“I thought Hardik was brilliant with his captaincy and bowling changes as well. He gave only one over to Arshdeep Singh initially. If at all the game got closer, he wanted to have that bank of Arshdeep’s three overs after 10 overs.

“He brought in Deepak Hooda at the right time. That’s something which Jos Buttler did successfully with Ben Stokes throughout that World Cup. He brought Hooda in at the 11th over. Obviously, you don’t look at those four wickets. The way he has used all the bowlers, it was very good to see,” Patel added.

Hooda got the wicket of Daryl Mitchell (10) in the 12th over. He then claimed three wickets in the 19th over, dismissing Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Adam Milne, as Team India cantered to victory.

---

“When you have seven bowlers, you can take those chances” - Patel on extra bowling options for Pandya

While reflecting on India’s overall performance, Patel pointed out that having seven bowling options, a luxury the team did not have earlier, has made life easier for Pandya. The former cricketer elaborated:

“Obviously, he has the confidence to rotate those bowlers when was playing for Gujarat in the IPL. When you have the luxury of seven bowlers, you can take those chances. That is something India was missing all this while. Good to have those bowlers and using them at the right time was key today.”

Team India used Hooda as the sixth bowling option on Sunday, while the captain wasn’t needed to bowl at all.