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Indian head coach and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir hailed Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy for their incredible partnership during a tense run-chase of 181 runs against New Zealand in the second T20I at Christchurch on Saturday.
At one point while chasing 181, India sank to 70/5 after a 40-run partnership between Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, with spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell being unplayable. However, after a 31-run cameo from Naman Dhir, hope was once again back in the Indian camp. Tilak, showing immense game awareness and calculated acceleration, and Nitish, happy to play a second fiddle, chased down the total with a ball in hand and four wickets to spare. Following the match, Gambhir hailed the duo with a post, writing on X, Boys becoming Men https://x.com/GautamGambhir/status/2113990249890374064/photo/2 Naman's rise as a promising finisher has been a positive for India, so far having scored 111 runs in six innings at an average of 37.00 and a strike rate of 246.66, with a best score of 42*. He has played a crucial role in two T20I wins in NZ so far. He has also taken five wickets at an average of 24.20, with best figures of 3/31, delivering crucial overs of spin. Nitish, having played all formats for India, played one of his most mature knocks, despite it being just 26 runs. So far in 11 T20Is and eight innings, Nitish has made 181 runs in eight innings at an average of 36.20 and a strike rate of 174.03, with a best score of 74 and just one fifty. Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had New Zealand down 41/3 within the powerplay. Glenn Phillips (70 in 46 balls, with four boundaries and sixes each) and Bevon Jacobs (58 in 46 balls, with five fours and a six) led New Zealand's recovery after an early top-order collapse against India after Kiwis were down 41/3 within powerplay, stitching a 116-run stand for the fourth wicket, taking NZ to 180/5 in 20 overs. Besides Arshdeep's 2/33, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy got a wicket each. While chasing 181 set by New Zealand, the world champions collapsed from 40/0 to 112/6, with Mitchell Santner's four-fer causing havoc in the middle overs. The hope was reinstated by a quickfire 31 in 17 balls (with a four and three sixes) by Naman Dhir, and it was Tilak (51* in 26 balls, with six fours and a six) and Nitish (26* in 13 balls, with a four and a six) who took India to victory with a ball left. India is 2-0 up in the five-match series. (ANI)
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