India captain for the New Zealand T20Is, Hardik Pandya said that the series is for the Indian youngsters to get more clarity in their roles and get more opportunities in the preparation for the future.
The first T20I between India and New Zealand was abandoned due to rain in Wellington and Hardik Pandya spoke about the plans for this series which sees India bringing in lots of youngsters in the aftermath of the Men in Blue’s exit from the T20 World Cup 2022 in the semi-final.
This is seen as a re-building phase for the Indian team on their roadmap for the 2024 T20 World Cup and Hardik Pandya said that this New Zealand tour is the start of the process in which plenty of youngsters will be given opportunities to prove themselves.
“The (T20) World Cup is done, I’ve left it behind. The disappointment will be there, but we can’t go back and change things. We’re now looking forward to this series,” Pandya told broadcasters Prime Video in a post-match presentation.
Pandya thinks that the young players in the squad have plenty of T20 experience having played in IPL.
“I know the other boys will follow exactly what the management and captain would say, they are all professionals. These guys are young by age, but not by experience. They have played plenty of IPL and got good number of internationals as well. I think the youngsters of today don’t get intimidated by not having played too much cricket," he said.
The stand-in captain also said that this tour is is more about getting the youngsters acquainted with their roles, but if the need arises, the more experienced players in the squad including him can alter their roles.
“If the situation demands, me and the more experienced players will play different roles, but this tour is for the new guys to get more clarity, opportunities and a chance to express themselves," he said.
“Boys were quite excited to play. New Zealand is a great country, great place to play. Unfortunate to not get a game. A lot of people came quite early as well, we were excited but this is something we as professional cricketers need to accept," he added.
(Prime Video inputs)
