Woeful New Zealand struggling to stay in contention for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 - Part 1 - Opinion
For a side that has been grappling with a wealth of issues in the recent past, New Zealand has witnessed an almost dramatic decline. The recent routing by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hyderabad-c792 brought a side into the limelight that just
cannot come to terms with the harsh realities of the modern game. New Zealand folded to just 164, on a turning track at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium, after being 121 for 3, whilst following on in their second innings. Despite the fact that the odds were stacked
against them to win, the flurry of wickets, which fell like a stack of cards, was not characteristic for a side that had historically fought hard, when the chips were down for them.
New Zealand’s state of plummeting to ground zero is thus, a shocking state of affairs. Ever since the Kiwis lost to Bangladesh away from home in 2010, a downward spiral had enveloped a side that at one time was one of the best in the world when it came to
limited overs cricket. The state of gloom was briefly addressed by a zealous set of players, when New Zealand defied the odds in the 2011 Cricket World Cup and secured a semi final berth. That monumental performance made sure that their adversaries had to
work hard for securing a place in the final. Since then, it was believed that New Zealand was back on the map, and a minor hiccup in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 has hit rock bottom after coming
up with a string of poor performances in all three formats of the game. For a Kiwi fan, these are indeed, torrid times.
The problems have surfaced due to a number of issues. Key players under-performing with the bat, ball and in the field is just one side of the coin. The present New Zealand side is a young one having relatively little experience, with the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KS-Williamson-c1813
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Daniel-Flynn-c1309. In addition, senior players have had issues as well, such as Daniel Vettori’s decline in form, coinciding with injuries off the field. Ross Taylor’s reputation as New Zealand’s best batsman in modern times has been hampered by the pressure
of being the captain of a side which is in turmoil. Similarly, the performance of star players such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Guptill-c1980 has been sporadic despite being extravagant at times. In light of all of this, winning a cricket match borders on the
preposterous nowadays for a team which had delighted underdogs all over the world.
New Zealand has not only lost the flare and fighting spirit that it was once associated with, but have also succumbed to heavy defeats. Traumatic collapses, as the ones which were witnessed in the Caribbean, stood in stark contrast to their status of being
a mediocre outfit which had historically fought above its weight. Those were definitely rosy times, as nowadays even teams such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 and Bangladesh could fancy their chances against the Black Caps in terms of their overall conventional strength. This
fact is quite damning, as New Zealand was once the only team which could give http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 a run for their money on their day.
Continued in Part 2...
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