The Men in Blue will face their toughest test of the tournament when they take on table-toppers New Zealand in Dharamsala on Sunday. India may have made it four wins in four games in the World Cup 2023, steamrolled quality oppositions like Australia and Bangladesh to be placed second on the points table. In ICC competitions as a whole, not only World Cups, Team India has avoided playing the Kiwis. Since the 2003 World Cup, New Zealand has a 5-0 winning streak, a historic run that has prevented India from defeating the BlackCaps.
India had little time to prepare for the match after their victory over Bangladesh only two days before, and Hardik Pandya’s absence is expected to make things a bit more challenging. After India’s 7-wicket triumph in Pune, buoyed by their spotless World Cup record so far, skipper Rohit Sharma had an unexpected query from Shubman Gill. The youthful Indian opener asked his captain about India’s dismal record versus New Zealand, a question for which Rohit was obviously unprepared.
Gill: During the press conference, someone questioned me about the fact that we haven’t defeated New Zealand in an ICC competition since 2003.
That’s accurate, Rohit. However, all we can control from our end is how well we play cricket.
Gill: So, on Sunday, will we undoubtedly break the streak?
See, we don’t play the sort of cricket where we can make any promises, said Rohit. We’ll need to continue working as a team when we get to the ground. We can’t plan too far in advance. Yes, we haven’t before experienced the outcome, but (Prior to Gill interjecting with another question)
Yes, the wait has been quite lengthy. When India last beat New Zealand in an ICC competition, MS Dhoni had not yet made his international debut, while Rohit and Virat Kohli had not yet reached their adolescent years. More significantly, India’s previous few games versus New Zealand have all ended in defeat. India’s campaign and MS Dhoni’s career came to an end after they fell to the Kiwis by 18 runs in the first semifinal of the 2019 World Cup.
Two years later, India advanced to the World Test Championship’s first final, when New Zealand once again defeated them. After an 8-wicket loss a few months later, India’s T20 World Cup campaign was officially over. New Zealand has always had the advantage, even in India. Apart from the semifinal loss to West Indies, India’s sole other setback in the 2016 World T20 came at the hands of New Zealand when Mitchell Santner’s meager 4/11 and Ish Sodhi’s 3/18 knocked India out for 79 in their pursuit of 127.
All of it, however, can abruptly end on Sunday. There is no better time than the present for India to end their miserable streak. The only side capable of posing a threat to New Zealand’s hegemony is India, and they will look on Gill in particular to perform well. Call it luck or chance, but 2023 has been Gill’s year. His rousing totals of 208 and 112 against New Zealand were the spark that ignited his scorching form this year. A matchup between the only two unbeaten teams in the competition is certain to result in a loss for one of the clubs.
