After a poor T20 World Cup campaign, India captain Hardik Pandya is looking to see youngsters in action in the upcoming three-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Only a few days after the conclusion of the ICC Men's T20I World Cup, India will face New Zealand in a three-match T20I and ODI series, beginning with the first T20I on November 18 at Wellington.
Most of the senior players, including Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli, have been rested for this series, with Pandya named captain for the T20Is. The absence of the veteran players provides an excellent opportunity for the youngsters to shine, and Pandya is eager to see how they perform in the series.
"A lot of the main players are not here but at the same time the players who are already here are also playing for India for the last couple years. So, they have also had ample time in international cricket to express themselves and show what they can do. Very excited for them, it's a new bunch, new guys with a lot of new energy. So, it will be quite exciting to watch them play," he told reporters in Wellington on Wednesday.
Hardik also discussed India's crushing defeat to England in the T20 World Cup semi-finals. He said while they are upset with the outcome, they must accept it and move on to provide greater performances in future competitions.
"The disappointment is there but we are professionals and we need to cope up with it. We have to cope up with our failures in the same way we treat success and should move forward to get better and rectify our mistakes," he said.
India was severely criticized following their humiliating defeat to England. In his Daily Telegraph piece, former England player Michael Vaughan referred to India as "the most disappointing white-ball squad in the history of world cricket." When asked about Vaughan's remark, Pandya dismissed it, adding that they don't need to prove anything to anyone.
"Obviously when you don't do well, people will have their opinion, which we respect. I understand people have different points of view. Being at the international level, I don't think we need to prove anything to anyone.
"It's a sport, you keep trying to get better and eventually when the result is supposed to happen it will happen. There are things we need to work on, going forward we will rectify and work on it."
IND vs NZ T20I squads
India- Hardik Pandya (c), Rishabh Pant (VC), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
New Zealand- Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Daryl Mitchell, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner.
READ| The tour begins with the T20I in Wellington before the teams move to Tauranga and Napier for the second and third T20Is on November 20 and 22.
