Before the World Cup semifinals, Sunil Gavaskar warns Kuldeep about a star from New Zealand: “He left on 95, but…”
Before India’s match against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup semi-final, Sunil Gavaskar has warned Kuldeep Yadav once more about the star player from New Zealand.
As hosts India look to make their first appearance in the ICC World Cup final since 2011, the only team standing in their way is Kane Williamson’s New Zealand team. Rohit’s Team India will play the Black Caps in the opening semi-final of the ICC World Cup on Wednesday, following their perfect nine in the round-robin stage. India, the reigning champions, last hoisted the renowned trophy in 2011. At the 2023 World Cup, The Men in Blue are the only team still unbeaten.
The highly anticipated matchup between India and New Zealand is a rematch of the Manchester World Cup semi-final from 2019, where Williamson and company defeated the Men in Blue to make back-to-back final appearances. In the ICC World Cup of 2023, Rohit and Co. won handily against New Zealand in Dharamsala, reigniting their rivalry. Without captain Williamson, the Kiwis lost to the Indians in a rare World Cup 2023 match thanks to a masterful knock from Virat Kohli.
Williamson, the captain of New Zealand, played in just three of the 2023 ICC World Cup matches. But with an average of 93.50, the Kiwi talisman has hammered 187 runs in three games. In reference to a healthy Williamson ahead of the World Cup semi-finals, batting great Sunil Gavaskar said that the captain of New Zealand is capable of taking on Indian bowlers, particularly spin specialist Kuldeep Yadav. When India and the Black Caps played each other in the World Cup, Indian spinner Kuldeep turned out to be a bit pricey.
“It is irrelevant. It makes no difference if he has scored runs after emerging from a big break because he is such an amazing player. Therefore, I don’t believe it will have a significant impact. If necessary, he uses his feet to smother the turn by moving down the pitch with great technique. He then makes use of the crease. Thus, he is an excellent player. He will be able to tackle Kuldeep, so I don’t think it will bother him to play him. You should work it out for six singles if necessary rather than hitting him for boundaries,” As Gavaskar stated to Star Sports
In World Cup match No. 35, Williamson scored a brilliant 95 off 79 balls against Pakistan, India’s bitterest rivals. Against the 1992 world champions, Rachin Ravindra’s outstanding century (108 runs) and Williamson’s 95-run blow helped New Zealand amass a massive 401 runs. Williamson and company secured the fourth spot for the World Cup semi-final stage, finishing ahead of Pakistan under Babar Azam.
“Then, he will try to score six runs per over because that is a good scoring rate by any measure. We have seen that he is willing to take more chances because he will hit the boundary ball when it comes. Maybe in 2019, we haven’t seen that side of Kane Williamson, but in this instance, we have witnessed him flying. He recently failed to score a century on a shot for a hundred, but that was only because he chose to take the aerial route. Gavaskar predicted that he would attempt the same tactic against Kuldeep Yadav.
