The visitors picked up a historic ODI series win in India after bouncing back from a defeat in the first game. Now, the Kiwis will look to seal the white-ball series as a whole, with the two teams getting ready for their final assignment ahead of the imminent T20 World Cup.
For the first T20I between India and New Zealand, here we present our match preview and predictions.
The hosts might have lost the ODI series, but they’ll still be high on confidence given their setup for the T20Is with an almost completely different squad. Suryakumar Yadav returns to lead the Men in Blue. The 35-year-old has been in horrific form with the bat and will hope to get among the runs heading into the World Cup. India will also look to finalise the squad and fine-tune all the chinks in their armour, though their batting line-up is more or less settled.
With Sanju Samson having been given the opening spot alongside Abhishek Sharma, India have an explosive top order. Captain Yadav slots in at No. 3, with Tilak Varma at No. 4. But given Varma recently underwent surgery for an abdominal issue, India have brought in Shreyas Iyer. It remains to be seen whether Iyer fills in at all, or if Varma is fit for the entire series. The middle and lower orders have further firepower with the likes of Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, and Axar Patel, with Pandya being crucial in particular for this Indian setup.
The bowling line-up will be boosted with the return of Jasprit Bumrah, while Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh will be the back-up seamers to the 32-year-old. The spin department will be led by Kuldeep Yadav, who had a poor ODI series and will look to bounce back in the shortest format. Varun Charkravarthy also returns and will be key, with Ravi Bishnoi also brought in as a replacement for Washington Sundar, another player who is out with injury.
New Zealand, meanwhile, are also set to field a nearly new squad for the T20Is, with a total of 11 new players coming in for the series. Their white-ball captain, Mitchell Santner, returns after a stint in the Super Smash back home, as do a host of experienced players, such as James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duff, and Matt Henry.
The NZ batting line-up, comprising Devon Conway, Tim Robinson, Daryl Mitchell, Chapman, and Glenn Phillips, has proved more than comfortable in Subcontinent conditions. Conway, Chapman, Mitchell, and Phillips boast plenty of experience in Indian conditions, while the visitors also have a host of all-rounders, allowing them to be flexible with their line-up and let Santner choose horses for courses.
The Nagpur strip has been a tricky one for batting in recent times in white-ball cricket, with the slower bowlers finding a lot of purchase from the surface. After a high-scoring ODI series, we could be in for a relatively low-scoring one.
The hosts might have struggled in the ODI series, but with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Varun Chakravarthy returning to the setup, it’s advantage India, as we back Suryakumar Yadav and Co to start the five-match T20I series with a win.
Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma (c), Devon Conway (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Daryl Mitchell, Rachin Ravindra, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell Santner, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy (vc), Jasprit Bumrah, Matt Henry
Venue: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur
Winners Prediction: India
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