New Zealand lost the first T20I against India despite posting a score of 203/5 batting first.
New Zealand will have to be a bit more aggressive with the ball if it is to bounce back and level the T20I series against India in the next game, also in Auckland, this Sunday (January 26), believes leg-spinner, Ish Sodhi.
The hosts had posted a massive 204-run target in their six-wicket defeat; never really putting enough pressure on the quality Indian batting unit. And even though the conditions at Eden Park don't enable an even contest between the bat and the ball, the Kiwis would still do well to focus on their skill-level in the second half.
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"We put 200 on the board again. If we can look to be more aggressive with the ball that attitude will be great learning from the first game," PTI quoted Sodhi as saying. "If we are going to go for runs or miss out on a couple of opportunities for wickets, you only learn after you try it out."
"You have to see how the game is going on. But it differs from batsman to batsman and bowler to bowler. You have to discuss with the captain and the bowling group as well."
"Mitchell Santner and myself do that a lot. Last night he was in the outfield so I spoke a lot with Kane (Williamson). I bowled 2-3 overs’ spell, and one of them was a defensive spell; the other was an attacking spell. So we have to bowl with the same attacking attitude throughout."
Sodhi himself went at nine runs per over in his spell of 2/36. "They (Indians) have five or six world-class batsmen in their side and it will always be difficult to contain them at the best of times. Eden Park with its boundary size is a challenge as well," he said.
"Kane was good with the bowlers at end of the game and the thinking as a bowling group was that we have to take wickets. 45 from 4 overs would be decent here but it won’t be on many other grounds."
"So we have to make the aggressive shift for the next game but we did really good with 200 runs on the board. We just need to defend it better."
After 40 overs of play and a whole day of the sun beating the surface, it might play a little slower in the next match. "You have to look at whether wicket gets better. We found it was held on Friday night, cross-seamers were holding a bit and the ball was spinning a bit too," Sodhi said.
"We will have to see if it gets slower and if there is dew factor like there was under the lights (on Friday). It’s just one of those grounds where good and bad balls go for sixes, and it can be quite hard to contain at times."
(Inputs from PTI)