India made short work of New Zealand's target in the second T20I to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, riding on Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav's spectacular knocks. Sunil Gavaskar and Simon
Doull discussed Kishan's and Yadav's performances, what New Zealand lacked while bowling and India's form going into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026.
Sunil Gavaskar commended Ishan Kishan on his comeback to the Indian team and touched upon his partnership with captain Suryakumar Yadav:
“Ishan and Surya have played for Mumbai Indians together, so they know each other’s game. When you play for a franchise and spend more than two months travelling all around India, you develop a kinship with that person. Knowing Ishan Kishan’s nature, he’s a very fun-loving guy. You can see how popular he is in the dressing room. When he came out, Rinku Singh and Abhishek were having fun around him. I think it’s got something to do with the new hairstyle that he’s got. It’s great to see the team spirit in the squad because that’s what you want in tough situations.'”
On Suryakumar Yadav's return to form and how he paced his innings:
“Surya’s innings showed that he was aware of the situation. He was batting on 11 off 11 deliveries. In a partnership of 97, 76 were scored by Ishan Kishan. That also shows the skipper’s maturity. There was another man batting so well, so he was giving him more of the strike, as well as getting his eyes in, getting the circulation going in the legs with singles and twos, and therefore getting himself ready for the big push. After Ishan Kishan got out, he was the one who took the initiative and started hitting the ball. Besides everything else, driving through the offside was a big plus because that means he was looking to play straight as much as possible. Once you’ve got that, then the other shots can come into play. Eighty-plus not out, a fabulous, fabulous innings and just a big, big boost for the Indian team before the T20 World Cup.”
Simon Doull shared his thoughts on Indian batters' prolific six-hitting ability and where New Zealand missed a trick:
“If you take Abhishek Sharma away, who failed in the game, Rinku and Hardik, two of the most prolific six-hitters, didn’t even get a go. So India are out-sixing with guys who don’t usually, I mean, they do hit sixes, but your two real powerhouses didn’t even get a bat. I thought India were simply brilliant. New Zealand had an opportunity early on, two for six, both the openers gone, and they should have been better. I don’t think Mitchell Santner had a great night from a captaincy point of view. New Zealand just didn’t put enough on the board, and I’m not even sure 280 would have been enough.”
On Ishan Kishan's whirlwind knock:
“Ishan played beautifully. He could have got a big hundred. We know his prowess- scoring a double hundred in ODIs. He’s got such power, and he does it so quickly. There were a couple of shots that stood out. The one off Ish Sodhi, when he went down the wicket and then pulled the ball over mid-wicket, was a phenomenal shot. When Abhishek obviously didn’t get them off to a good start, what Ishan did from two for six was to put New Zealand under pressure. He took the game away and allowed Surya to settle in. At one stage, Suryakumar Yadav was 11 off 11 balls. The way Ishan played allowed him to settle. So I thought he was simply superb. He’s got shots all around the ground.”
On whether this is the strongest squad India have ever assembled going into the ICC Men's T20 World Cup India & Sri Lanka 2026:
“It’s a different-looking side to what we saw in the ODIs, to me. It’s a side that just looks like they really know how to play this format of the game. They’re enjoying it. There’s a mix of experience and youth. There’s all-out aggression. I think throughout the batting order it’s just about, ‘We are going to keep coming at you. I don’t care if we’re two for six, we’re going to keep coming at you and we’re going to come harder.’ We saw that in the first game as well, where they continued to go even though they lost wickets at relatively regular intervals. I thought the fightback with the ball was really good. They just look like a team that Surya has got in a great headspace at the moment. They’re playing with confidence. They were laughing and joking as they came off the field, the pats on the back, the rubs on the head, those little things that come with a team in a very good frame of mind and knowing exactly what they have up their sleeves.”
