After drawing their five-match T20I series 2-2 against the West Indies, India will now take on New Zealand in another five-match T20I series starting Wednesday. The 1st IND vs NZ T20I will be played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch from 12:30 p.m. IST onwards.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer will be eyeing his first away series win, after his captaincy stint began with defeats in Ireland and England. The pitches in New Zealand are expected to be vastly different from the flat tracks at home, posing a fresh challenge — and only four batters in the current squad, including skipper Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, have prior T20I experience in those conditions.
While regular openers Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson have been in good form, it remains to be seen whether young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get a game.
Ahead of the opener, Iyer admitted that the bowling attack had lacked experience in recent outings, and said veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s return would help plug that gap. The comeback of mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy should also ease India’s bowling concerns.
India will also be without two proven match-winners — injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who led the side on their 2022 tour, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who will feature only in the ODIs and Tests on this tour.
New Zealand, meanwhile, will bank on their explosive top order and pace battery to outshine the Indian stars. Boasting a formidable pace attack featuring Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson and Blair Tickner, skipper Mitchell Santner said he is hoping for a bowler-dominated contest.
Santner also felt Sooryavanshi would be "quite hard to stop" if he features in the series, but said his side has plans in place for the young batting sensation. Asked about Bhuvneshwar Kumar's return to India's T20I side after a gap of nearly four years, the home skipper said he expects the veteran to relish the conditions.
The two countries are celebrating 100 years of sporting ties this year and the T20Is would be followed by a five-match ODI series and two Tests.
The India vs New Zealand 1st T20I will be telecast live on the Sony Sports Network TV channels.
The first 1st T20I of the five match series between India and New Zealand will be live streamed on the SonyLIV app and website.
Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.
Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert
Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner.