India’s top order failed miserably against New Zealand in the first T20I on 27 January. Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, and Rahul Tripathi departed for single-digit scores and put India in a lot of trouble in the chase of 177. Although Suryakumar Yadav (47 off 34), Hardik Pandya (21 off 20), and Washington Sundar (50 off 28) managed to keep India in the game, New Zealand clinched the first T20I by 21 runs.
As Sundar left a big impact on the game with his all-round performance, he was sent to attend the post-match press conference. While attending the PC, Sundar was asked a question about India’s top-order failure. Sundar had his answer ready and it was rather a strange one. The all-rounder cited an interesting “biryani” example to address the query.
“If you don’t get your favourite biryani in one of the restaurants, will you never go to that restaurant again? It’s just one game, happens to anyone. At the end of the day, it’s sport. Both teams cannot win and all 22 players cannot perform. All of them have done so well to get to this stage and at this stage too, they have made runs,” said Sundar.
“New Zealand too collapsed in Raipur. They did not change their top order or anything in their squad. So, it’s a game of cricket and anything can happen. We will have to be patient and with this management, they are very calm and patient as long as we all are learning. Going forward, we are going to be a very strong side,” added Sundar.
Notably, India take on New Zealand in the second T20I of the three-match series on Sunday at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. The Hardik Pandya-led team will look to level the series.