NEW DELHI: India's emphatic victory over New Zealand in the second T20I in Raipur sparked a broader debate beyond the scorecard, with former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin drawing attention to the growing impact of dew on night games.

While India's stunning chase of 209 - powered by explosive knocks from Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav after the hosts had slipped to 6/2 - showcased elite batting and fearless intent, Ashwin felt the conditions played a decisive role as well. The heavy dew in the second innings quickened the outfield and left the ball difficult to grip, tilting the contest sharply in favour of the batters.

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Taking to his YouTube channel after the match, Ashwin praised Kishan and Suryakumar for their brilliance but voiced concern over what he termed "anti-bowler" conditions. He warned that excessive dew can strip the game of its competitive balance, particularly in night matches.

Ashwin suggested that scheduling matches earlier in the day could help restore fairness, noting that Indian bowlers, too, could be unfairly punished when defending totals under dew-laden conditions - a factor he hopes does not influence the Indian leg of the ICC T20 World Cup later this year.

"The games can be played in the afternoon. Teams like New Zealand will not bother because they don't have many bowlers and they know that in such conditions nothing can be done. But in teams like India, if a player has not done well in two games and comes and bowls in such conditions in the third game and goes for runs, his career will be over. It is unfair to play in such conditions," Ashwin said.

"How will you fight such conditions as a bowler? We can plan better. If there is dew, at least play in the day. Or choose different venues. Other countries have a record of conditions, how the wicket will react, par scores etc for every ground. We must also have such records," he said.

Ashwin expressed hope that organisers would exercise "due diligence" while finalising venues for the Indian leg of the T20 World Cup, stressing that the impact of dew must be carefully assessed.

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"I really hope that the India leg matches of the T20 World Cup are not affected by dew. If it is, skill will go out of the window. I sincerely hope there is a little more due diligence on the dew factor in these venues. Once it comes in, you are dependent on the toss a lot. I don't want to see a mult-ination World Cup that will be dictated to a certain degree by dew. Skill should be at the fore," he said.

"But when you see certain situations where people are also getting hammered because of conditions, if you have a bad day, the conditions should be like you can fight it out with hard work, but that is not happening. Dew can kill the beauty of the game," Ashwin added.