3 major reasons for India's victory in the second T20I against New Zealand

After being humiliated in the first T20I of the series, India responded with a near perfect performance in the second T20 as they came roaring back in the series.

Kane Williamson won the toss and put India to bat. New Zealand did not have a very good start as the Indian bowlers took early wickets due to which the Kiwi batsmen could not score freely.

It was Colin De Grandhomme who came to their rescue and scored a quick fire half century, pulling his team out of trouble. Indian bowlers though, took wickets in the end and did not allow the Kiwi players to finish strong. Krunal and Khaleel did most of the damage for India as they picked five wickets among them.

India’s chase started with a bang. Rohit Sharma took the Indian innings off to a great start with Shikhar Dhawan playing second fiddle to him. It was then Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni who took care of the remaining runs and took India home without any hiccups.

Krunal Pandya received the Man of the Match for his excellent bowling performance.

Let us have a look at some of the reasons for India's victory:

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1) A captain’s knock at the top by Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

Chasing any total in a T20 game requires a good start. Rohit Sharma did exactly that and laid an excellent foundation for India to win.

Rohit started by smashing the second ball of the innings to the boundary. From there, it was no looking back for him. He smashed four sixes in his knock and became the leading run-getter in the format.

He provided the much needed momentum at the top after failing to do the same in some of the previous matches. He completed his half century in just 28 balls. This was indeed a captain’s knock and made the match much easier for the middle order batsmen before he was held out in deep off the bowling of Ish Sodhi.

2) Backing the players after a humiliating loss

Rohit Sharma: Excellent captaincy

Rohit Sharma, the Indian captain, has been well praised for his captaincy in IPL as well as international cricket. Recently he faced a lot of flak for his team selections. He was under scrutiny as he played too many bits and pieces cricketers and did not use them well.

Rohit, though, backed his players and played the same team for which he reaped very rich rewards. He backed Krunal Pandya in place of front-line spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and Krunal ended up picking three very important wickets.

He also continued with Hardik Pandya when Colin de Grandhomme was running riot on all the bowlers and the results were to be seen. The same goes with Khaleel Ahmed also.

It was really impressive to see a captain backing his players and the players as well responding in a positive way. This was definitely a big reason in India’s victory.

3) Contributions from everyone in the team

New Zealand Black Caps v India - International T20 Game 2

Cricket is a team game. Individual performance might win you a match or two, but to keep winning constantly, the whole team needs to perform.

This was exactly what was witnessed from team India. Everyone in the side contributed in one way or the other. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up the dangerous Tim Seifert upfront. Then, Khaleel Ahmed and Krunal Pandya picked up important wickets in the middle and end stages. Hardik Pandya too removed the dangerous looking Colin De Grandhomme.

In the batting also, the middle order batsmen in the form of MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant played their parts and closed the match for India.

Performances like these, where everyone contributes, are the best. After being rolled over in the first T20I, every member in the team upped their game and showed why India is a world class side, playing anywhere in the world.

The series now stands level at 1-1.