Team India won the T20I series against New Zealand 1-0 on Tuesday after the third T20I between the two teams was washed out. The match ended as a draw, and courtesy of their 65-run victory in the second T20I, Hardik Pandya-led young brigade won the T20I series.
Despite the talk of injection youth in the shortest format, some X-factor players weren't played in either of the fixtures, with fans wanting to see the likes of Sanju Samson and Umran Malik getting some game time. skipper Pandya spoke about the issue, in his post-match press conference.
The 29-year-old said that it was a tactical issue that the likes of Sanju and Umran didn't play, assuring that it was short series and those who didn't play will get chances in the future.
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"First things first, who is saying what outside, doesn't really affect us at this level. This is my team and I'll pick the best side after discussing with the coach," said Pandya.
He continued, "There is ample of time. Everyone will get their chances and when they do, it will be a long run. This was a small series, if we had more matches then we could have tried out more players."
Indeed the first T20I was washed out due to rain, the second match also witnessed some rain, while the third match was interrupted by rain again and had to be declared a draw courtesy of the DLS method.
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Despite his sheer pace, Umran has found playing time hard to come by after impressing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2022, while Samson has failed to nail down a place in the senior team for a while now, despite impressing in whatever chances he gets and also leading Rajasthan Royals (RR) to the final in IPL 2022.
Pandya meanwhile gave the example of Deepak Hooda to stress his point that he will keep giving chances to players, Hooda picked up four wickets in the second T20I.
"For example, I wanted a six-bowling option and Deepak did that very well. If the batters start to chip in with the ball then we will have options to surprise the opposition," stated the Indian all-rounder.
