India chose to leave out fast bowler Arshdeep Singh in the first ODI against New Zealand and former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin doesn’t seem to be too impressed by the decision. In two posts on X, Ashwin said that if he was rested, he shouldn’t have been in the squad at all like Jasprit Bumrah and that the lack of continuity won’t help Arshdeep.
It has to be noted that Ashwin never explicitly named Arshdeep in his posts on X. “Where-is-deep Singh? That’s all #INDvsNZ,” said Ashwin. When a user pointed out that Arshdeep is in the Indian squad for T20 World Cup, Ashwin replied: “Resting someone shouldn’t be after he gets in the squad. Resting means he gets rested like Bumrah. The lack of continuity can impact rythm and hence performance.”
India went with a pace battery of Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna. Siraj was the standout for India, while Rana made the difference in the middle overs in which he broke a 117-run opening stand between Devon Conway and Henry Nicholls. Rana got Nicholls first and dismissed Conway as well in his very next over.
Siraj, meanwhile, took two wickets for just 40 runs while Prasidh Krishna was expensive but he varied his length at the death. The short of length deliveries made it hard for the New Zealand batters to up the ante. Overall, the pacers finished with figures of 6 for 165 and, more importantly, generated a dot-ball percentage of 46.9 – a telling statistic that neutralised the lack of assistance for the spinners.
On a surface where the trio of spinners struggled for wickets (Kuldeep was the lone wicket-taker) and exert pressure (Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep leaked 35 runs in 23 overs), the seamers staved Gill off the blushes with timely strikes, ensuring that the momentum never swung back decisively. Remarkably, it was not pace or aggression that stood out, but their intelligence.
