The Indian cricket team will take on New Zealand in the first of three T20I matches at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday, November 17. The game will begin at 7:00 PM IST.
India, for starters, enters the three-match T20I series with a new captain and head coach. Rohit Sharma, a five-time Indian T20 League champion as Mumbai captain, succeeds Virat Kohli as the new T20I captain while Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the new India head coach.
The New Zealand cricket team, meanwhile, finished as runners-up to Australia in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021 final.
The Kiwis were outdone by the Aussies in a high-octane finale at the Dubai International Stadium, and will arrive for their first bilateral T20I series in India since 2017. Tim Southee will be in charge as captain for the T20I series after regular skipper Kane Williamson opted out to focus on the upcoming two-match Test series.
While Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested, the quartet of Venkatesh Iyer, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, and Ruturaj Gaikwad have earned call-ups to the national team after splendid performances in Indian T20 League 2021.
After the T20 World Cup final on Sunday, New Zealand have just three days to prepare for the first India vs New Zealand T20I, and will miss the services of Devon Conway (broken hand) and Lockie Ferguson (calf tear).
Adam Milne, an injury cover, will directly replace Ferguson while a replacement for Conway is yet to be named.
The Men in Blue had a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign in the UAE, registering wins in their final three league games after enduring heavy defeats to Pakistan and New Zealand in their opening two fixtures.
India vs New Zealand T20 head-to-head
The India vs New Zealand T20I head-to-head record is in favour of the Black Caps, with nine wins and six losses from 17 clashes. Prior to the teams meeting in the T20 World Cup, the Men in Blue claimed a 5-0 whitewash in their tour of New Zealand in 2019-20. The third and fourth games of the series went into Super Overs.
While India’s home record has been good, they don’t enjoy supremacy over New Zealand as the latter has claimed three victories in five visits.
India vs New Zealand T20I squads
India squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand squad: Tim Southee (captain), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Martin Guptill, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson
Where to watch India vs New Zealand T20I live in India?
The India vs New Zealand 1st T20I will be telecast live on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:00 PM on the Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD and DD Sports TV channels in India.
Live streaming of the India vs New Zealand T20I series will be available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.
SportsAdda will bring you India vs New Zealand T20I live scores.
Featured photo: AFP / Aamir Qureshi
