India's win against New Zealand key to retain fan interest in T20 World Cup 2021 

It is one of the biggest games for Virat Kohli as skipper. If he loses this one, he will, for all practical purposes, be giving up on T20I captaincy without an ICC trophy to show for. More importantly, a loss for India will mean the tournament will lose a lot of its sheen. No India is half the money gone and from the ICC’s standpoint, it will be a disaster. In every sense, the India vs New Zealand T20 World Cup match is a virtual knockout and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Chances are India will go in with the same team. They firmly believe the Pakistan game was an aberration and have also prepared for a 'lose the toss' scenario. While there was some conjecture about Ravichandran Ashwin playing, especially with multiple left handers in the New Zealand lineup, it could well be Varun Chakravarthy who gets another opportunity to impress.

The concern, however, is also with the fast bowlers. India’s only bankable fast bowler is Jasprit Bumrah, while the other two, Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are both blow hot and blow cold performers. Bhuvneshwar hasn’t been at his best, and being a rhythm bowler, it is very important he gets into groove as quickly as possible.

Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar need to step up and perform

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has looked a pale shadow of his original self

Unless Bhuvneshwar is the player of old, the bowling lacks teeth and it will mean the batting unit will have to compensate for a relatively weaker bowling department. Hardik Pandya too is expected to bowl at least two overs and that should give Kohli the flexibility he needs in an important match like this.

India’s record against New Zealand isn’t great but records don’t mean anything as we have already seen with the Pakistan game. A member of the Indian contingent said it nicely -

“Each time at the World Cup stage we have beaten Pakistan, but we have ended up losing the trophy. This time round, let it be different. We may have lost to Pakistan but it is time we step up and make amends by doing well in the tournament.”

All of India will be hoping he is right for, unless that happens, Indian cricket will be in turmoil in the weeks to come.