Kane Williamson doesn’t have much of an idea about the leadership of Hardik Pandya, who will be captaining India in the T20I series against New Zealand, beginning in Wellington on Friday. But the New Zealand captain feels guidance from seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should be of help to Pandya, who’s being tipped to be India’s regular T20I captain following the team’s semi-final exit from the T20 World Cup.
“Hardik’s obviously a superstar of the game and I’ve played against him on a number of occasions. He’s one of the most sought-after match-winners. His bowling is going really well and he can hit the ball like he does,” Williamson said in a virtual interaction for Indian media organised by Prime Video — streaming partner of New Zealand Cricket in India — on Tuesday.
“As for his leadership, I’ve never played with him, so I don’t know exactly, but he had a lot of success in the IPL. And in terms of leadership within the Indian team, they’ve got a number of great players, a number of really experienced players.
“So I’m sure that their leadership and the guidance of Rohit and the likes of Virat will be very helpful.”
With Rohit, Kohli and KL Rahul rested, India’s batting order will be featuring the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill, while spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar along with pacer Umran Malik are part of the bowling attack.
Talking about Umran, who was Williamson’s teammate at the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last two IPL seasons, the Black Caps captain termed the Jammu and Kashmir quick a “fantastic talent”.
Umran has played three T20Is so far, but has proved expensive (economy of 12.44) and has only two wickets to show. But Williamson believes the youngster is cut out for a long innings.
Vijay Hazare Trophy: Gharami’s ton goes in vain
Calcutta: Opener Sudip Gharami’s 127 went in vain as errors from Bengal’s bowlers resulted in a three-wicket loss to Maharashtra in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group E game at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi on Tuesday.
Bengal’s second defeat in three matches comes as a big blow to their prospects of making the knockout stage of the competition. With this loss, Bengal have slipped to fourth in their group.
Along side Gharami, all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed too played an important knock of 62 not out off 64 balls as Bengal posted 279 for 6 after opting to bat. But Shahbaz (1/75) couldn’t fire with the ball. With four to defend off the last ball, Shahbaz was hit for a six by Rajvardhan Hangargekar.
Prior to that, he was struck for a six by Maharashtra’s centurion Azim Kazi (106 off 97 balls) in the second ball of the deciding over.
Brief scores: Bengal 279/6 in 50 overs (S. Gharami 127, S. Ahmed 62 n.o.; M. Choudhary 2/47). Maharashtra 282/7 in 50 overs (A. Kazi 106; M. Kumar 2/57). Maharashtra won by 3 wickets.
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