Daryl Mitchell guided New Zealand to a rather comfortable victory in Rajkot. The visitors chased the target down in 47.3 overs and with 7 wickets in hand. India captain Shubman Gill rightly pointed out how the Men in Blue weren’t able to inflict any damage in the middle overs with the ball.
Shubman Gill rues missed chances
Things weren’t going well with the ball. But India had the chance to turn things around a few times. In the 6th over, KL Rahul dropped a tough chance off Harshit Rana. It didn’t hurt India, as Devon Conway was uprooted on the next delivery. In the 25th over, the ball fell short of Rohit Sharma at long-off. Some felt that Ravindra Jadeja or Nitish Kumar Reddy shouldn’t have been stationed there, as they are India’s best fielders.
Then in the 36th over, Jadeja missed a run-out chance. It wasn’t easy, but you expect him to make it. Daryl Mitchell, who scored 131, was batting at 75 at the time. The next ball, Prasidh Krishna dropped Mitchell at long on. By international standards, it was a pretty regular take. The pacer ran to his left but couldn’t hold on. Prasidh also dropped a tough return catch in the 47th over. Yes, the match was done by then, but the issue remains.
Gill addressed these fielding concerns in the post-match interview. “Even in the last match, we let down a few chances. We are always trying to get better in the field, and yes, if you don’t take your chances, you will be in trouble,” he said.
In the first ODI, Kuldeep Yadav had dropped a regulation catch at third man. India will have to sort this issue out, not just for the third ODI but also for the T20 World Cup 2026.
