New Zealand tour about clarity in role and opportunities for new players: Hardik

Wellington. Putting the T20 World Cup disappointment behind him, India’s stand-in captain Hardik Pandya on Friday said the current limited-overs tour of New Zealand is aimed at providing clarity on the roles of new players and giving them opportunities. Hardik, who is leading the team in the three-match T20I series in place of regular skipper Rohit Sharma, said the Indian team does not believe in thinking about past results. He said that these players may be young in terms of age but not in terms of experience. He has played a lot of IPL (Indian Premier League) and has also played a lot of international matches. I think today’s youth are not worried about not playing much cricket.

 

“If the situation demands, I and a lot of experienced players will play different roles but this tour is to give new players more clarity, opportunities and a chance to express themselves,” he said. Hardik said that the World Cup is over, I have left it behind. There will be disappointment but we cannot go back and change things. We are now looking forward to this series. The three-match T20I series will be followed by an ODI series of the same number of matches.

 

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said the ongoing series is a good platform to test players like Adam Milne, who missed out on the T20 World Cup in which both New Zealand and India were knocked out at the semi-final stage. India faced victorious England in the semi-finals, while New Zealand lost to Pakistan. Williamson said it is a matter of getting better, especially in knockout matches. Players like Adam Milne were also in the T20 World Cup squad but didn’t get a chance so it is a good time to give them some match time. He said that we will start afresh, it is a new series, both the teams are looking forward. Both the teams wanted to reach the final but we got a week’s rest to prepare for this series.

 

Asked about the Indian team that has come here without regular players, Williamson said, “I have no doubt that all of them will be big players for India, I have seen them all in the IPL.” They are very talented. Williamson said the upcoming three-match series against India would provide a good chance for his team’s young players to impress the selectors and stake a claim in next year’s 50-over World Cup. He said that most of the teams prepare for the big tournament which is not far away and the ODI format would be a good opportunity for the youngsters.

 

Williamson said that I am sure that the players will have plenty of opportunities to shine. We have to see what kind of pitches we get to play on, we have to adapt accordingly. The second T20 International match of the series will be played at Mount Maunganui on Sunday.