Stand-in New Zealand skipper Tim Southee cited the hectic schedule as the main reason behind his team’s two successive defeats in the T20I series against India.
The Rohit Sharma-led Indian team won the second T20I by seven wickets at Ranchi to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
According to Southee, daunting schedule didn’t allow the Kiwis to adapt better to the tricky Indian conditions.
Notably, New Zealand cricket team landed in India less than 24 hours after losing the T20 World Cup 2021 final to Australia in Dubai on November 14.
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"It's been a hectic schedule on the back of the T20 World Cup, I just don't think we adapted to the surface as well as we could have," Southee said at the post-match conference.
Losing the toss didn’t help New Zealand’s cause either as the dew factor came into the picture in both games. While the hosts overhauled the target of 165 in the opening T20I, they chased down 154 in the second match to clinch the series.
"There was heavy dew throughout the whole night and it affected both sides. It's tough, you can obviously train with a wet ball but we're not able to adapt as we would have liked. Credit to the Indians they outplayed us," Southee said.
"We needed to take early wickets to put them under pressure. For me, I was just trying to replicate what they did, which looked hard during our innings.
"It was tough for our spinners to get a good grip on the ball. But yeah, like I said they were just just too good tonight," he added.
The third and final T20I is due to be held at the iconic Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday (November 21) and Southee is hoping to end the series on a high.
"The goal is to get one last push before we get home after the next game. That's another opportunity to represent your country. So I don't think you need any extra motivation to get yourself up.
"It's a great place to play cricket coming here tonight in front of a full house. It's just an amazing place to play it so I'm sure the guys will be able to pick it up and finish the tour on a high," he concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
