Former New Zealand cricketer Craig Cumming backs Finn Allen and is left unhappy with head coach Gary Stead’s persistence with Finn, who failed with the bat in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against India.
Craig Cumming Backs Finn Allen
During the New Zealand tour of India 2023, a total of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is have been scheduled to play. While India won the ODI series, IND vs NZ T20I series will begin on January 27.
Finn Allen made his 50-over debut last year with a few impressive scores against Ireland and the West Indies but has quickly gone into a downward spiral. Finn who opened the inning for New Zealand in the India ODI series scored 40 runs in the first ODI and was dismissed for a duck in the remaining 2 ODIs.
“I’m concerned around the style of cricketers we’re trying to produce. I want to produce Devon Conways, I want to produce Kane Williamson; the guys that have got craft and can bat and they’ve got more than one (skill)?,” Cumming told SENZ Mornings on Thursday.
“Finn Allen at the moment, he’s young, he’s learning but (he’s in a) really important position for us at the top of the order and he seems to be at the moment a one-pace, one-line hitter.
“At the moment it’s failing and maybe Finn’s getting the experience, I mean they’ve got to stick with him, but he’s not producing enough at the moment.” Cumming compared Allen with India skipper Rohit Sharma, who is not just a strong hitter of the ball but also has the required skill-set to play according to the situation.
“You look at Rohit Sharma and the way they (India) play, yes they’re powerful but they also have skill in the way they go about executing their plans. I just worry at the moment that Finn’s sort of been thrown into that mix where it’s one pace, batter up, it’s a baseball style mentality; try to hit home runs and that’s all we want.”
On the other hand, the omission of Rohit and Virat from the Indian T20I squad made a hustle among the cricket community but Indian head coach Rahul Dravid clears the air by explaining the reason for the bold move.
While these apart, the former Indian cricketer MS Dhoni met the Indian cricketers and left everyone in surprise.
Ahead of the IND vs NZ T20I series, India stand-in T20I captain Hardik Pandya confirms that Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan will open the inning in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Shubman Gill with his impressive performance in the NZ ODI series equals Babar Azam’s record for scoring the most runs in a 3-match bilateral ODI series.
Gill was adjudged the ‘Player of the Series'(India vs New Zealand ODI series) for his sensational exploits with the bat, which included a maiden double hundred in the first match.
India will play their first T20I match of the series on January 27 at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi.
