India will enter Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 15 November against New Zealand as a favorite. Still, former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor believes India will face extra pressure before the match.
Ross Taylor Believes History Will Repeat Itself:
India is currently unbeaten in the World Cup and already won against New Zealand in the group-stage matches. But the former Kiwi batsman thinks New Zealand will win and play the final this time. According to Taylor, New Zealand has nothing to lose but India has everything to lose. Hence the pressure is more on India.
India previously faced New Zealand at the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup semifinal and back that time, India also had a great form and winning streak but New Zealand managed to win the game by 18 runs. In his column for ICC, Ross Taylor shared his opinion that New Zealand will repeat history again on 15th November.
Wankhede is a high-scoring venue. According to Taylor, it will be a big task for New Zealand in dealing with the condition. He added, “But if New Zealand can start well with bat and ball, that will give them a lot of confidence to stay in the fight.”
The first ten overs of both innings will be very crucial for both teams. If New Zealand’s bowlers somehow manage to take two or three wickets within the first ten overs, it’ll put India under pressure. Ross Taylor stated that India’s batting relies heavily on an excellent top three, namely Rohit Sharma, Subhman Gill, and Virat Kohli. Taking two or three of them in the powerplay will put the middle order under pressure and New Zealand can ascertain their dominance over India’s lower order.
However, India’s lower order, Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul, Surya, and Jadeja are also in good form. They have the ability to post a big score if India bats first or chases any run if the top order doesn’t work well. Shreyas Iyer and Rahul scored a century against the Netherlands on 12 November and helped the team to post a mammoth 410 runs in the scorecard.
New Zealand’s Historic Dominance on India:
New Zealand has a historic dominance over India in ICC tournaments. Both teams faced each other 19 times in the ICC events (World Cup+ Champions Trophy+ T20 World Cup+ World Test Championship) in which India managed to secure a win only five times whereas New Zealand emerged as the winner 12 times and two matches ended in a draw/no result. India’s four of the five wins came in previous ICC World Cups. In the ICC World Cup India became the victorious side against New Zealand four times whereas New Zealand won five times in 10 matches.
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