November 13 was not a good day at all for the Indian batsmen. The Indian batting line-up, full of brilliant batsmen, proved to be a complete failure at the Bay Oval ground in New Zealand. The Indian team, which had chased a target of more than 400 runs just a few weeks ago, collapsed for just 89 runs. This once again brought the same question to the fore – can the stalwarts or new batsmen of the Indian team perform wonders with their bat only on flat pitches?
It is natural to ask this question after seeing the performance of the Indian team at the Bay Oval ground in Mount Maunganui. New Zealand batted first in the fourth match of the ODI series. Batting first, the Kiwi team had scored a tremendous score of 333 runs. However, despite this, this pitch did not seem very easy for batting. Will Young, who scored a century, avoided being caught out in two consecutive balls.
Batting scattered in the first over itself
But on a pitch where a team has scored more than 300, a good reply is also expected from the team batting in the second innings. But the story was different. The Indian team lost 3 wickets for 0 runs in the first over itself. Experienced fast bowler Matt Henry became the reason for this, who, taking advantage of the slight help from the pitch, eliminated stalwarts like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer in the first over itself.
When the ball came outside for Rohit, Virat and Iyer were dismissed by Matt Henry on the incoming balls. The batsmen after him were also seen kneeling in front of other fast bowlers of New Zealand. So does it become impossible for batsmen like Rohit, Virat, Iyer, Gill to bat on even slightly difficult pitches? Will the same story be seen repeating in the World Cup to be held in 3 countries including South Africa next year?
India's stalwarts will play only on flat pitch
This question is arising because Team India had recently successfully achieved the target of 405 runs against West Indies. Then Shubman Gill had scored a double century. In the same series, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also scored centuries. But it was clear that that pitch was completely flat i.e. helpful for the batsmen, whereas the story of Bay Oval was completely different. Even though New Zealand scored more than 300 runs here, the pitch was not so easy and it was enough to expose the Indian batting.
This problem was not only in this match but also in the first and second matches. In both the rain-affected matches, India lost wickets in quick succession but still won due to the small target. After losing the third wicket at the score of 114 in the first match, the Indian team suddenly lost 3 more wickets. Similarly, in the second ODI, the target of 135 runs also fell short and 7 wickets fell till 111 runs. However, somehow India won the match due to Duckworth-Lewis rule.
Now it is natural for all these performances to raise the question – Is the Indian team now only capable of flat pitches? Will India's batsmen be unable to do anything on a pitch with little support for the bowlers? Most of the players participating in this match will be part of the World Cup 2027 team. In such a situation, can he be trusted for the World Cup? The answer will be known after a few months.