Sunday will be one last chance for India and New Zealand to fine-tune their preparations as they go into the T20 World Cup beginning next week.
The fifth T20I of the series at Thirvananthapuram will have more to it than a mere dead rubber between the teams. It will be another opportunity for Sanju Samson to get back among runs before the showpiece event, this time at his home ground.
Having got back to the tested opening pair of Samson and Abhishek Sharma by dropping Shubman Gill, head coach Gautam Gambhir wouldn’t want to make another replacement at this hour.
Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Friday acknowledged that Samson has been going through a lean phase but reiterated the team management’s support for him.
Samson has 40 runs from four matches at an average of 10 in the current series.
“Sanju is a senior player, he is very good. He probably has not scored as many runs as everybody would like, but that’s part of the cricketing career. Sometimes you have five innings in a row where you score so many runs and sometimes you have a little tight period,” Kotak said on the eve of the final T20I.
“It’s all up to an individual how to keep his mind strong and, obviously, our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. He is practicing and he is working hard, so we
all know what Sanju is capable of. I don’t think anything more to say about Sanju because he has been really good,”
he added.
Kotak exuded confidence in the team’s preparations before the World Cup.
“It’s been a very important series for us. It is obviously useful because before the World Cup you kind of start getting into a rhythm, you start finding the combinations and you try and give players an opportunity,” he said. “All that you can do when we are playing. So, these five games, and obviously, before that South Africa (series) is also very useful for us.”
Ishan Kishan, who missed the fourth T20I with a niggle, is likely to play Saturday’s match.
“Ishan Kishan has always been good whenever he got an opportunity. Sometimes wicketkeeper batters don’t get opportunities. But whenever Ishan has played, he has always done well. The way he played two innings was really encouraging because in power play, you are looking for someone to play the way he played,” he said.
“And very likely (he will play), at the moment, as far as I know. The physio is here for practice. So, physios will take a call. But I feel very likely.”
The visitors showed in the last match in Visakhapatnam how rapidly T20 cricket is evolving, both with the bat and ball. They will be bolstered further by the return of Finn Allen, and his pairing with an in-form Tim Seifert will be one to watch out for as New Zealand will once again look to go into the World Cup on a winning note.
Allen, who joined the squad after his BBL commitments, is likely to replace Devon Conway at the top. He was the leading run-getter during the recently-concluded BBL.
There’s still little clarity on Michael Bracewell, who’s been out with a left-calf strain.
