Blackcaps In UAE: T20 Series Preview
Aotearoa's Blackcaps get their T20 series against Pakistan underway in the coming days and Ajaz Patel has been given a limited overs call up, joining Glenn Phillips and Corey Anderson as the additional squad members. Two players were always going to be added to the T20 squad and two lads will soon be added to the ODI squad, but with Martin Guptill ruled out via injury, there was room to bolster the spinning stocks.
This appears to be a case of Blackcaps coach Gary Stead spending time in United Arab Emirates and sussing out conditions, combined with Patel making a strong case for selection. Patel wasn't overly dominant in the T20 series vs Pakistan 'A' and only played one of the 50-over games in which he didn't take a wicket; 5.80rpo through 10 overs is all good though.
The weird thing here is that Patel was only slightly better than Astle in the T20 A series and Astle did better with more opportunities in the 50-over series. Both took 4w in the T20's, with Patel bowling 8.5ov and Astle bowling 9ov. Patel's 6.45rpo was a smidge better than Astle's 6.88rpo, then we slide into the one-dayers where Astle took 2w in 19ov (two games) @ 3.47rpo compared to Patel's no wickets @ 5.80rpo. That made Astle the most economical kiwi bowler in the one-day series.
Despite Astle rolling out solid performances, as good if not better than Patel's, it is Patel who earns the call up. The Blackcaps have a decent pool of bowlers to make the most of slow conditions, led by Ish Sodhi and including Colin de Grandhomme and Colin Munro who will churn out their dibbly-dobblers. Phillips has been rolling the arm over during the A series as well and Mark Chapman is a capable spin option, which when combined with a seam stable of Corey Anderson, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Seth Rance and Tim Southee is a pretty damn full stable.
All those options could have made up for the lack of a second certified spinner, however Stead has gone with Patel and this flows into fresh vibes coming through the Blackcaps group. I may be reading too much into this, although that is my job, because when you compare the bowling of Astle and Patel, then factor in Astle being the third best run-scorer in the one-day series, then factor in Astle being the third, sometimes second spinner under Mike Hesson (Mitchell Santner then Sodhi vs Astle) and it feels like we have our first glimpse at Stead swinging his selection willow.
To sum that all up; Astle and Patel were fairly similar in the A section of the tour, Astle has the history behind him but Patel got promoted.
One of my main frustrations with the Lesson regime was player being selected for how well they performed their minor skill, instead of being selected for what they do in their major skill. As Stead has been a successful coach of Canterbury recently, I was curious to see how that influenced his selections and it appears as though Stead has not only put greater weight on the major skills, he has clearly selected Patel ahead of his Canterbury pupil.
Patel has been selected for his bowling, while in the past it was Astle who was selected ahead of Patel and often Sodhi because of what he offers with the bat. This could be a low key massive moment in the coaching tenure of Stead, as it outlines a different style of team-building and when you view this as empowering Patel to be the best his specific duty, it's refreshing.
Despite only earning consistency Super Smash selection last summer, Patel has performed strongly across all formats. Everyone knows that Patel has dominated Plunket Shield for a number of years, but last season Patel also made some T20 moves by taking 13w in 10inns @ 21.84avg/8.07rpo; Astle was better in the Ford Trophy though lol. A look at Patel's career suggests that T20 cricket is actually his best format as he averages 22.60, compared to a List-A average of 42.95 and First Class average of 30.28.
Whether Patel wins much game time remains to be seen, as there are plenty of options for Stead and Kane Williamson to explore. They'll need all those options because Pakistan have smoked Australia 3-0 in their T20 series, scoring over 140 in all three games and dismissing Australia for less than 140 in all three games.
The key figures from that series were Shadab Khan, Babar Azam and Mohammad Hafeez. Khan led all wicket-takers with 6w @ 10.83avg/5.49rpo, while Azam hit two 50+ scores to lead the run-scorers and Hafeez was 2nd in runs with a strike-rate of 132.14. Pakistan had a bunch of bowlers who performed strong and one to keep a close eye is 18-year-old lefty Shaheen Afridi who has an average of 22.09 through 17 T20 games.
Afridi's lefty seamers took 4w @ 14.50avg in the series vs Australia. There is a nice mix of seam and spin for Pakistan, as Khan and Imad Wasim were in the top-five bowlers as spinners and Afridi was joined by Faheem Ashraf and Hasan Ali in taking 3+ wickets; Pakistan had two spinners and three seamers take 3+ wickets.
This is a young, vibrant Pakistan team who present a far different challenge to what many kiwis will remember back in Aotearoa. They are on their turf and with a few new faces, they will be eager to make a strong impression, especially after giving the Aussies a touch up. The Blackcaps are heading into the Lion's den and with a new coach, this is going to be an enticing series.
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Peace and love 27.