India defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 international. Khaleel Ahmed, who took two wickets in the game, has revealed the strategy that led Men in Blue to win. He said that the Indian fast bowlers were told to bowl back of the length to contain rival batsmen.
Asked about the plan to curtail the boundary percentage of the home team, he said:
“Because the ground was small, we deliberately bowled back of length to curtail boundaries. We had to shorten the length as conventional swing was not on offer. We showed a lot of improvement today and hope to improve further in the next game.”
He also spoke about Rohit’s inputs as the Eden Park Ground has different dimensions in comparison to other stadiums in the world.
“Rohit bhai told us about are the areas batsmen will target and how to cut the angles,” the Rajasthan speedster added. According to Khaleel, one of the major challenges encountered by pacers coming to New Zealand was bowling into the wind.
“One difficulty that we face in New Zealand while bowling is running into the wind which is a rarity elsewhere. But then these are little things that you learn and it’s a great experience.”