There was no end to India’s misery in their second game of the tournament against New Zealand as they slipped with another top-order collapse by the end of the powerplay.
They made a change at the top of the order in the form of Ishan Kishan, who played the game in place of Suryakumar Yadav. Rohit Sharma was slanted to the number three in the hope of extracting a blistering start from the young left-hander.
The move could also be seen as protecting Rohit Sharma from Trent Boult’s swing at the top but neither of those objectives were fulfilled.
Kishan was not aggressive from the word go and was dismissed just when he started to take the attack to the opposition. At the other end, KL Rahul looked awfully out of touch and laboured for a couple of boundaries. However, he too was the victim of a catch right on the boundary line and Indians were once again rocked with two wickets without too many runs on the board.
Rohit Sharma tried to up the ante against Adam Milne after the pacer dropped him on the very first ball on the fine-leg boundary. He and Rahul took two fours and one six off Milne before Ish Sodhi came to send him back to the pavilion.
The Indian-origin leg spinner was not done for the night and got the big fish Virat Kohli when the Indian captain played an uncharacteristic slog out of sheer desperation.
India have already lost a game against Pakistan in the tournament and a defeat against New Zealand would almost knock them out of the ground.