Cricket fraternity hails India’s first series win under Rahul Dravid’s tenure

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, November 20

India sealed the three-match T20I series 2-0 against New Zealand on Friday by defeating the Black Caps by seven wickets as newly appointed head coach Rahul Dravid got off to a winning start.

Newly appointed T20I captain Rohit Sharma’s tenure also started on a winning note after the team’s forgettable performance in the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman.

Reactions to the debut series win under Dravid and Rohit came in from all quarters, including some current and former cricketers, as well as renowned cricket pundits.

India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant took to Twitter to express his feelings about the game and the series win. He swiftly pointed towards the final T20I game vs New Zealand, which is scheduled to be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on November 21.

Solid effort from the team to seal the series! See you guys at Eden. @BCCI 🇮🇳 #IndVsNz #RP17 pic.twitter.com/C3BAtKwv8r

— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) November 19, 2021

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer posted a hilarious meme explaining how the series turned out to be one to forget for the visiting team. He did so in his unique style:

This series feels a lot like this scene 😅 #INDvNZ #IYKYK pic.twitter.com/8oARplbqYO

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) November 19, 2021

“This series feels a lot like this scene.#INDvNZ #IYKYK.”

Cricket expert Ayaz Memon seemed quite impressed by the way India went about their chase. He also specifically mentioned Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshal Patel for putting on a brilliant show with the ball to restrict the New Zealand batters to a sub-par total.

Pant completes win in gr8 style. Delightful chase, but the platform was set up by the bowlers, particularly R Ashwin and Harshal Patel who restricted NZ to 25-30 runs fewer than anticipated. Series in the bag allows Dravid and Rohit scope for experimentation in 3rd match

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) November 19, 2021

He also said that Dravid and Rohit could be willing to experiment in the third T20I with the series already in their bag.

“Pant completes the win in great style. Delightful chase, but the platform was set up by the bowlers, particularly R Ashwin and Harshal Patel who restricted NZ to 25-30 runs fewer than anticipated. Series in the bag allows Dravid and Rohit scope for experimentation in the 3rd match.”

In the match, India showed positive intent throughout as they chased down the target of 154 runs with 16 balls remaining.