IND vs NZ, 2nd T20I: Nehra gives interesting take on openers Pant and Kishan

With India's established opener pairing of captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain KL Rahul being rested for the New Zealand series, wicketkeepers Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan were roped in as openers when the Hardik Pandya-led side squared off against Kane Williamson's men in the 2nd T20I on Sunday. Returning to the fold in the series opener, premier batter Kishan played a crucial knock while vice-captain Pant failed to fire for India at the Bay Oval.

Opener Kishan scored 36 off 31 balls in the 2nd T20I of the three-match series. Kishan's partner-in-crime Pant perished for cheap as the Indian vice-captain scored only 6 off 13 balls. Before India registered a comfortable win over the Black Caps, former Indian pacer and Gujarat Titans' coach Ashish Nehra spoke at length about Pant's batting failure in the penultimate clash of the T20I series.

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"Ya, Rishabh Pant did not look in good touch. He did hit one boundary at the start but did not find his timing later on. Especially in these conditions, you just can't look to hit the ball hard and you have to look at timing the ball well. And a few times even Ishan Kishan, he was beaten but he stayed there and now is looking good, but we have seen him better than this," Nehra told Primevideo, the T20I series' official streaming partner.

The last time two left-handed batters opened for Team India in Men’s T20Is was in 2012. Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir had kickstarted the proceedings with all-rounder Irfan Pathan at the time. Former Indian pacer Nehra also questioned whether Pant and Kishan will be given a longer rope to open the innings for India in the New Zealand series.

"The thing is that IPL and international cricket are different ball games, there is a different pressure, different mindset, I want to see how much does this opening pair get backed by the team management. The kind of conditions today, there was a little bit for the bowlers. I want to see what they do with their opening options, main thing is that they cannot be confused," Nehra added.

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