Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar said that Devon Conway’s absence will have a major impact on New Zealand's setup going into the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 final against Australia at Dubai.
Devon Conway broke a metacarpal in his right hand after he struck it on the bat following his dismissal against England in the semi-final 1 of the T20 World Cup 2021 at Abu Dhabi, which further ruled him out of the tournament and the subsequent tour against India.
Conway’s absence will leave a huge void in New Zealand’s line-up as he has been the man in form for the Black Caps. His unavailability will certainly give a massive headache to manage. It remains to be seen who they draft-in in place of the wicketkeeper.
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Speaking to India today, batting great Sunil Gavaskar urged New Zealand to make no mistake as there’s intense rivalry between Australia and the Black Caps, which only increased after the ‘under arm’ incident in 1981.
"Make no mistake. There's a heck of a rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. And that rivalry has increased ever since the Under Arm incident 40 years ago. Since then, it has taken a new turn and it is a lot more fearsome and intense rivalry between these two countries,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar said that Devon Conway’s absence will make a huge impact as he’s a quality player and is in good form. He stressed the importance of him being the left-hander and recalled how he along with Daryl Michell took the match from England in the semi-final.
"It will make a huge impact because Devon Conway is a quality player. We have seen him at the Test level. He made a double hundred on his Test debut. He's been in very good form these last 12 months. As a batsman, he has scored 1000 runs.
“He is a wicketkeeper, he is a left-hander. We saw the combination of Daryl Mitchell and Conway, how they took the game away from England. Conway not being around is going to be huge. A man in form and somebody who brings the left hand into the equation," he said.
Sunil Gavaskar further feels that New Zealand won’t make many changes in the lineup but if they struggled around 13-14th over they might promote Jimmy Neesham, who turned the game against England.
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"I don't think New Zealand will look to make too many changes unless they are struggling around the 13th and 14th over and have not got too many runs. Then they might have Neesham going up. We have seen the way Neesham turned the game around against England," he said.
With Devon Conway not being available, Tim Seifert can be the like-to-like replacement for the former when New Zealand takes on Australia in the final of the T20 World Cup on 14th November in Dubai.
(India Today inputs)
