NZ vs IND: 1st T20I Preview: Experimental India face ailing New Zealand

On Sunday, 19th January, India defeated Australia in the third ODI at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Now just five days after the series victory, the Asian team has arrived in New Zealand to embark on a five-match T20I series. The Indian team is still in the experimentation mode for the upcoming T20 World Cup and they will be facing New Zealand who are missing major names due to injuries.

Match Info

New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I, 24th January (Friday)

Eden Park, Auckland (12:20 PM IST)

The weather in Auckland is likely to be largely clear with the presence of moderate breeze. A good batting surface with small boundaries makes Auckland a run-fest.

Men in Blue vs Black Caps

Team News

New Zealand:

Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Seth Rance, Doug Bracewell, Will Young, Adam Milne – This is the list of injured New Zealanders. The home side has called up Hamish Bennett who last represented his nation in 2017. He is yet to play T20I cricket. Kane Williamson returns to the side after missing out on T20Is against England. Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi shall handle the spin department with Tim Southee leading the pace attack.

India:

India also have injury problems of their own but with ready backups, they are still fighting the problem of plenty. Shikhar Dhawan has been ruled out of the series and Sanju Samson shall take his place. Captain Virat Kohli said that KL Rahul is a good enough wicketkeeper and the team is likely to persist with him. That leaves Rishabh Pant in a limbo. Whether he’ll play as a specialist batsman or will he be left out altogether remains to be seen.

Probable XI:

New Zealand:
Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Seifert, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Scott Kuggeleijn, Hamish Bennett, Tim Southee

India:
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah

Did you know?

India New Zealand