Hamilton: Despite being criticized for his orthodox approach to batting in the just-concluded T20 World Cup, New Zealand coach Gary Stead on Sunday said there is still room for pure batting in the fast-paced format. New Zealand once again failed to win an ICC limited-overs tournament when they suffered a seven-wicket defeat against Pakistan in the semi-finals in Australia earlier this month. New Zealand’s batsmen failed to play openly in the semi-final and could only manage 152 runs for four wickets.
Stead told reporters after the rain washed out the second ODI against India, “I know there is a lot of talk between a lot of players around the world in T20 cricket but in my opinion the wickets we play on It is not about batting fast all the time. He said, “We have a few players like Devon (Conway) and Kane (Williamson) who probably bat artistically from the first ball as opposed to the rush style. From my point of view there is still a place for these players.
England, the only team to win the One Day International and T20 International World Cup in the same cycle, have managed to achieve success by playing fearless and attacking cricket from ball one. “You have to look at the resources within your team and then you have to look at what the strategy is,” Stead said. Some teams are always getting damaged with the thought of hitting boundaries. The former New Zealand Test batsman defended his strategy, saying, “But we have shown in a few matches that there is a different way to play. The team selected was the best 15 or 11 players that we had.
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He said, “For us it is still the way we play. It could change again, we have to keep reviewing our style of play and make sure we keep up with the pace of the game.” Stead said he had put up a competitive score against Pakistan in the semi-final but was let down by the bowlers. He said, “It is not just batting in T20 cricket, you have bowlers as well. Pakistan bowled very well but we had a score that was potentially defendable. We didn’t get off to the best start with the ball in the game.”
The reigning world Test champions have made it to the semi-finals of five consecutive World Cups since 2015, with the team also making it to the title clash of the 2019 (ODI) and 2021 (T20) tournaments. Stead also lauded India’s white-ball star batsman Suryakumar Yadav for his stellar performance with the bat in the T20 World Cup. “He makes things look so easy at times and it is very difficult to bowl to him because he can play shots on both sides of the ground. He can play shots from the first ball and puts you under pressure.”
Stead said, “He also brings innovation to his game, his shots are a little different. He has two to three options to play shots which makes it very difficult to defend against him. He said, “He is a big player in world cricket at the moment. I can imagine he is probably one of the bowlers looking to get him out at the moment.” The second match of the three-match series between India and New Zealand was washed out due to rain. The New Zealand team is currently leading the series 1-0. (agency)