New Zealand v India 2020: 3 tactics that India should have gone for in the Test series

It was a series to forget for India. The belief which was developing of India becoming a world-beater is diminished for now. With a clarified view, we will discern the reasons behind such an embarrassing loss.

The pattern was the same in both the games, a poor start at the top meant massive pressure on the middle order to score big runs which didn't happen. No support from the lower half implied an under-par score to defend each time for the bowlers who weren't at their best either. Here's a list of 3 things which Virat Kohli should have done differently versus New Zealand.

#3 Including KL Rahul in the Test team

KL Rahul is in the form of his life at the moment.

Though his test stats doesn't do any justice to his sheer talent, however, KL Rahul had done more than enough to get a recall into the team. Such phases of batting come only once or twice in a batman's career where everything goes his way. Rahul is in such phase right now. And it is India's loss more than Rahul's that his form isn't being utilised to the fullest.

India had a massively inexperienced opening pair and with the injury to Rohit Sharma, it was blatantly basic to have some experience at the top. New Zealand's tough pitches weren't the place for Prithvi Shaw to make his comeback, and Mayank Agarwal's patchy form made the matters worse for India.

Having a solid opener has a massive psychological benefit, his batting sends the image of the pitch to the minds of the entire batting order. Unfortunately for India, Shaw and Agarwal could never do what Tom Latham and Tom Blundell did for New Zealand.

Note: All statistics are as of March 4, 2020

#2 Playing 5 bowlers instead of 4

India's bowling was always second best to the Kiwis'

This is a point which didn't come up strongly before the start of the series. It is only because India lost so badly that the importance of having another bowler comes up. India's bowling was always second best to the hosts.

Maybe having Umesh Yadav in the first game or throwing a raw pacer in Navdeep Saini would have garnered some extra dimension the Indian bowling line-up, much like debutant Kyle Jamieson provided the Black Caps.

New Zealand always had Colin de Grandhomme as the fifth bowling option. It does two things, one, it gives much-needed breaks to the pacers and secondly provides a different sort of challenge for the batters. India missed the 5th bowling option big time. It is time for Virat Kohli to not just be aggressive with his captaincy but also be a bit bold much like he was in the Johannesburg test where he went all out with 5 pacers including Hardik Pandya.

#1 Giving game-time to Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill was initially selected for the home test series against South Africa where he didn't get a game due to outstanding performances by Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal. The trend continued in the Bangladesh series as well. Around the same time, Prithvi Shaw's ban was lifted and both of them were selected for New Zealand series.

Since, Shubman Gill had been with the team for a much longer period, fairly, he should have been given a go-ahead instead of Shaw. Even Shaw should have been given some time to settle in. Coming from an injury lay-off and then a ban, it was always going to be an arduous task for Shaw to score runs on such difficult tracks.

Gill averages over 70 in first-class cricket. He has a double hundred for India A in each of their away assignments in West Indies and New Zealand. He has been one of the most consistent players in Ranji Trophy in the past few seasons. Add to that, a terrific IPL where he won the emerging player award. Whether he would have made much of a difference is another debate, however, logically he should have played.

Prithvi Shaw defensive technique is still far from solid and his strike rotation abilities are also not quite there. Gill whereas is a more complete player. He has a good defensive technique and terrific strike rotation skill. He is the old school classy no. 3 right-hander.

Much like the case of KL Rahul, it is more of India's loss than Shubman Gill's that a player of his class is warming the benches.