Key takeaway from today's final: Always go ultra-aggressive against NZ

[vvvslaxman]

Just now, nitinbwj said:

Dube is a beast and teams have started fearing his spin destruction. He smacked 65 off 23 againt NZ in Jan when Ind was down and out at 82-5. Santner didnt come on to bowl until he was out.

Yup. You need such players with different strengths to throw the bowling rotation plan of the opposition

[Nikhil_cric]

Key takeaway is to play the 6th batsman in white ball cricket ahead of a 6th bowler/bowling allrounder nonsense.

 

Batting depth is "Prioritas Prima" when it comes to white ball cricket. 

 

Everything else is secondary.

 

 

 

 

[tapandrun]

Not just against NZ- The mantra is same , play agressive in big games.

 

These big games are the games of small margins, both sides have some big players, playing conventional and being bit in shell can harm.

 

Aus did this all the time, they trust their x-factor players and they come hard at opp. In 90s-00s it was Gilchrist.   

[BacktoCricaddict]

Actually, always go ultraaggressive against anyone... Unless pitch demons are an impediment 

[G_B_]

Nz are simply final chokers.

 

While its true to go hard against them, their record in finals against most opponents is terrible.

 

They get away with scrutiny due to the size of their population. Mental midgits.

 

 

[Texan]

In the mid to late 2010s (post 2013 CT win), we were a docile team led by a stubborn and brainwashed captain who only believed in the "proces" being greater than the results.

 

We were fed constant nonsense of "play yourself in", "take singles", "just keep rotating the strike", "only target par scores", "sheet anchor role players" and garbage like that, which has no standing in a T20 game. 

 

It took us many more years after Mr Cool retired to get rid of this meek midget mentality. But then, we caught onto one more disease: trying to pursue all kinds of individual milestones. Cue KL Rahul slumping in disappointment after hitting the winning runs vs Aus because he missed his hundred or Kohli slowing down to chase his 100s.

 

Hence, we deservingly lost in crucial games as the team's whole thinking was negative and we played with a "safe" approach. This has no place in T20s. We were also unwilling to get rid of those experienced people who were no longer contributing.

 

Bringing in aggressive young blood like Abhishek and Tilak who were hungry for success helped. The menatlity has now completely changed. We don't care about individual milestones and we keep playing in a controlled aggressive manner even if we have some setbacks. We don't default to becoming mental midgets in crucial KO games. That is a very welcome change and hope we continue in this vein!

[Lord]

Why not do that vs everyone?

[Gollum]

6 hours ago, Lord said:

Why not do that vs everyone?

Can do that. Thing is Kiwis are more susceptible when you do that against them, as history shows. They get rattled very easily. 

[Gollum]

The start we got against Aus in 23 final...80/1 in 9 overs. Had NZ been on the receiving end, they never would have recovered, and we would have marched on to 350+. 

 

This is where Aus is different, especially in finals. You have to play the best game of your tournament to beat them, someone has to play an all-timer, like Lloyd in 75 or Aravinda in 96. 

[New guy]

On 3/9/2026 at 12:50 AM, cowboysfan said:

I have noticed too many guys getting out to full tosses in this WC,that should not happen-you dont have to hit a full toss in the air to get a boundary.

I think they have the confidence that with modern bats they can easily hit fill tosses for 6. The ones they got out for were mostly slower full tosses and in sanjus case, it was a very high, borderline no ball one 

[Suhaan]

Australia's mental toughness is unmatched,longer the game they back themselves to make comebacks 

Shorter the game ,the more susceptible they are 

You need to be patient and don't fall for their trap

Rohit had a brainfart moment and succumbed,had he played sensibly who knows we could have posted 300/320 , Australia was never reaching that target against our then bowling

We just played into their hands ,kela like sheeps always make other batsmen around  nervous he was actually helping Aus dictate terms

Edited March 10 by Suhaan

[Suhaan]

On 3/9/2026 at 1:24 AM, Nikhil_cric said:

Key takeaway is to play the 6th batsman in white ball cricket ahead of a 6th bowler/bowling allrounder nonsense.

 

Batting depth is "Prioritas Prima" when it comes to white ball cricket. 

 

Everything else is secondary.

 

 

 

 

There is no denying that