New Zealand opener Martin Guptill and India pacer Deepak Chahar made the first T20I between the two sides in Jaipur on November 17, 2021, a bit more interesting thanks to their epic stare-down.
New India T20I captain Rohit Sharma started his tenure by winning the toss and choosing to bowl first. India handed a debut to Venkatesh Iyer, while Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman got a game for New Zealand.
New Zealand managed 164/6 in 20 overs, mainly due to 70 in 42 balls from Martin Guptill who hit 3 fours and 4 sixes in his innings, Mark Chapman his first T20I fifty for New Zealand since moving over from Hong Kong and ended making 63 in 50 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes.
For India, Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked 2/24, and R Ashwin got 2/23 in 2 overs apiece.
However, the show-stealer was the epic stare down in consecutive deliveries between Martin Guptill and Deepak Chahar.
The incident happened on the first ball of the 18th over when Guptill clattered a 98 meter six off Chahar, who is playing on his home ground in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The shot was followed by Guptill staring down at Deepak Chahar.
On the very next ball, Guptill tried to replay the same shot, but the ball went high in the air where Shreyas Iyer made a good running catch at deep midwicket.
Now it was Chahar’s turn to return the favor and he stared a hole in Guptill, as the batter walked off to the pavilion.
Here is the video of both the stare downs:
