NEW DELHI: The sustained aggression of Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav has made life tough for New Zealand’s bowlers in the ongoing T20I series, with the trio forcing the visitors to find ways to “remain calm”. However, bowling coach Jacob Oram urged his players to embrace the challenge and learn how to counter the Indian batters.India’s top order has put the New Zealand attack under immense pressure, with the three batters scoring at a strike-rate close to 250 across the previous three T20Is.
“It’s been a little bit of chaos out in the middle with the ball flying everywhere, to remain calm and controlled and remember those plans and then obviously execute them. But I say again, it’s all part of the learning,” Oram said during the pre-match press conference.The clean hitting from the Indian batters reminded Oram of Sri Lanka great Sanath Jayasuriya, who played in a similar fashion from the 1990s to the mid-2000s.“Jayasurya from Sri Lanka who kind of did the same thing at that time and I think that’s just a natural progression of the game. I think what you see is the tendency for bowlers to have to catch up and that’s our challenge now as the bowling coach and there are plenty of discussions happening.”Neutralising three batters in prime form has posed a massive challenge for the Kiwi bowlers.“Abhishek at the moment … outstanding form, hitting it clean, let’s just hope game two is reproduced in game four and we get him out early. We’re not glazing over these results.“But the thing is he’s (Abhishek) not the only one, Suryakumar has played well, Ishan Kishan in the second game. We know there are challenges up and down the (Indian batting) line-up,” Oram said.Oram’s assessment was echoed by pacer Lockie Ferguson, who spent extended time bowling at the nets ahead of Wednesday’s fourth T20I.“Yeah, he’s batting well. He’s full of confidence and he’s playing some outstanding shots. We’ve seen players do this in the past. It’s important to review, find areas where he’s a little bit weaker and try to bring an aggressive brand of cricket into what we’re playing,” Ferguson said.“But there’s no doubt that he’s in fine form. So, sometimes it’s best to try to get him off-strike, get him at the other end and bowl to the other batter,” the pacer chuckled.Ferguson’s inclusion has added valuable experience to New Zealand’s bowling unit, but Oram admitted it hasn’t been easy keeping the morale of a young attack high amid India’s relentless onslaught.“I think there are a couple of factors. The first and foremost is a realisation that it’s hard in these conditions. This isn’t New Zealand with green grass and the ball seeming and bouncing. We mentioned before about the likes of Abhishek, SKY, Ishan … it’s a good side and we appreciate that.“I keep using the word challenge, so the challenge for us is to peel back those layers, to appreciate how hard it is here, but still find little things along the way that we can improve,” he added.