A Colin de Grandhomme curb in New Zealand’s T20I solution
The whole of the New Zealand team are living their lives projecting simulated passion. Well, curb your enthusiasm, Black Caps, you’re in for a ride. When the WT20 train crashes, don’t blame fate or anything else but yourselves.
New Zealand were clearly chilling ahead of the 2019 World Cup and that led them to face a mountain of issues mid-way in the tournament. Only that New Zealand’s inexplicable dominance over Sri Lanka in the opener followed by Kane Williamson sailing the ship alone, leading to the semifinal, helped the team avoid a shameful exit. In the meantime, there was a revelation embarking in favour of the big man, Colin de Grandhomme, who was suddenly more productive than ever in the 50-over format. He started bagging wickets quite religiously in every game and produced two 60-odd scores against Pakistan and South Africa, two hard-fought games.
And suddenly, it was established that New Zealand can’t look beyond him in ODIs and eventually in Tests. Ever since the World Cup, the big man, the mansion has been a part of the New Zealand squad and has been oddly consistent in the two traditional formats of the game. But does that form mean that he fits into the T20I side as well?
No wickets in 13 innings till the end of 2018, not a single T20I fifty until that point in his career. But three fifties in 13 innings in 2019 and New Zealand were sold on the giant. But not everything that seems all big and shiny is necessarily a harbinger of good news. But New Zealand are quite delusional, aren’t they? The fact that they think Colin de Grandhomme stands tall like a wall is rubbished by the reality that he’s nothing but an impediment in the team’s way to do something worthwhile in the T20 World Cup. Or, in fact, at least form a stable side ahead of the ICC challenge.
But everything leading to the ongoing T20I contest against India and the series itself is testimony to the fact that the management and the captain have no clue about what they are doing. The two-time World Cup finalists have made major blunders over and over again, and CDG’s is yet another case of that they never learn.
The ones who remember the 2019 World Cup final, also undeniably retain the memory of the fifth T20I against England in the latter part of the past year. Before another Super Over contest, the shortened game - in the absence of Kane Williamson - saw Colin de Grandhomme(6 off 5) being promoted to No. 3. That not only pushed Tim Seifert, who smashed a 16-ball 39, down the order but also forced Ross Taylor to come in at 6. Not did it just kill the momentum set by Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, it also led to another absolutely avoidable Super Over. Basically, another defeat.
The same suicidal order was followed in the third T20I against India in Hamilton, on Wednesday, when an exceptional innings from Kane Williamson set the tone for an ecstatic chase. Even after the pinch-hitting experiment using Mitchell Santner at No. 4 failed for New Zealand, their captain was on the way to producing his best-ever T20I innings. Things still looked bright for the hosts in their 180-run chase. But in came the big man, at 5, and successfully brought the entire momentum down in a span of about five overs. Not Ross Taylor, not Tim Seifert but CDG at No.5. I’d really like to go inside the brains of the decision-makers but for now, I can only resent what that led to. Just nine runs required off the final over, Taylor hit a SIX on the first delivery and New Zealand failed to score three runs off the remaining five deliveries. Williamson, at 95, gave away his wicket whilst attempting a maximum. Seifert, who had just come in, succumbed to pressure.
Hence, Colin de Mansion is a bad idea in T20Is not only because of his form, but also the fact that his presence is parasitic for the entire middle-order. The last bilateral series between New Zealand and India, in 2019, was witness to the fact that Tim Seifert means business. He was opening then, and now the natural opener has been downgraded to No.6. While he failed to adjust to the position in the first T20I, the quick dismissals of Williamson and CDG bought the wicketkeeper-batsman enough time to settle in and add a 26-ball 33 towards the end of New Zealand’s innings. But is it Seifert’s, who announced his comeback to the international scene with a splendid 43-ball 84, best potential?
And where is Jimmy Neesham anyway? If CDG was a 2019 World Cup revelation, wasn’t Jimmy Neesham the same, in fact, even better? The all-rounder, who has been seen more on Twitter than in the New Zealand jersey throughout his international career, had, in fact, maintained a batting average of above 30 in the ICC tournament while also bagging 15 wickets averaging 19. Instead, Neesham - the far better bowler - was seen playing against India A whilst the Black Caps continued with their lysosomic form.
If all these adjustments, which I can’t wrap my head around, are being done to accommodate CDG the question remains, is he even worth it? If not, he’s clearly just killing New Zealand’s chance to form a winning unit ahead of the T20 World Cup, to be hosted by Australia in October. And with the recent series defeat against India at home, they better be forming one sooner than later.
