Some things in life never happen. The sun never rises from the west, politicians never stop manipulating voters, and India don’t lose 3-0 in Test cricket at home. Scratch out the last one because the Black Caps didn’t just whitewash India, they clinically outplayed them in every department of the game on three different surfaces.
To win Test matches, you need to pick 20 wickets, but to claim 20 Wickets, the batters need to provide the bowlers with the cushion of runs. For New Zealand, that cushion came from an unlikely source, Man of the Series William Alexander Young. 244 runs in six innings doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you take into consideration the nature of the wickets, the opposition bowlers and the crucial situations they were scored in, you will realise their weight.
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Young only came into the playing XI for this series because of the injury to Kane Williamson. Unfortunately, that’s been the story throughout his stop-start Test career. Only 19 Test matches in five years. An average of just over 30 after 34 innings compared to his first-class average of 40 is reflective of this uncertainty. Born in New Plymouth, Young has been the mainstay of the Central Districts batting since his first-class debut in 2012. Young also spends a lot of time playing county cricket in England to compensate for the lack of game time with the Black Caps.
He has always been easy on the eye. He has got an all-round game and is blessed with the gift of timing. He’s always been one of New Zealand’s better players of spin because he plays with soft hands and is comfortable using his feet. If anything, it’s his shot selection that has let him down in the past but in this series, his calmness under pressure and clarity in decision-making have been exemplary. The 48 not out in the second innings at Bangalore and the twin half-centuries in Mumbai are reflective of a player who might have just found his rhythm in international cricket.
The Black Caps play England at home next. Two of New Zealand’s stars of this series i.e. Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel are unlikely to feature in that series owing to the nature of the wickets in New Zealand. Williamson is expected to be back for that series. So, what happens to Young then? On current form he deserves to stay in the playing XI, but will he? This is why selectors get paid big bucks.
