India is currently involved in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand. Virat Kohli and his men were in commanding position as they have already won two out of their two T20Is of the five-match series. Meanwhile, certain questions are being raised over the length of the ground and Harsha Bhogle has opened up saying that grounds for a T20I should be bigger than at the Eden park in Auckland.
The Indian team thumped the hosts by six wickets in the 1st T20I that was played at Eden Park in Auckland. It turned out to be a high scoring match as both the teams went past the 220-run mark. In the end, Team India managed to pull off a spectacular win on the back of brilliant performances given by KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in the series opener.
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In the 2nd T20I, India ran through the Blackcaps by seven wickets at the same venue. Rahul was awarded Man of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 57 runs off 50 balls studded with three boundaries and two sixes. However, the interesting thing from both the games was that batsmen were able to smack sixes quite easily off bowlers due to the short boundaries.
After the conclusion of the 2nd T20I, Harsha Bhogle, the famous Indian commentator told Cricbuzz that batsmen in this era are physically fit and that combined with the upgrades bats, gitting sixes have become easier in recent times. He added the fact that the games should not be played on such tiny grounds.
Bhogle further added, “I can understand that it is a heritage ground (Eden Park) and its been like this for many years. They have changed the angles and shape of the ground. But with the new game, with the power, the batsmen are physically much stronger than they have ever been and the bats are so much better. You got to have bigger grounds than this. You cannot have this type of tiny little grounds. If that is the case then the teams can come and play on TV sets.”
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It was a big disadvantage for the bowlers on a ground that has its third men and fine leg boundary off and around 55 meters. The same happened in the 2nd T20I when KL Rahul attempted to play a stroke towards on-side but the ball went for a six taking a top-edge off the willow.
India has taken a 2-0 lead against the hosts in the ongoing T20I series and the third game is scheduled to be played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on January 29.
