India look to continue their dominance as Kiwis seek their first win on tour

After a phenomenal display in the ODI series against New Zealand, the Men in Blue will now head to Jharkhand, hoping to challenge the might of the Kiwis in the shortest format of the sport while a few fresh faces deemed as crucial elements of the rising T20I wave will be pushed to the fore.

The Men in Blue have been savouring some red hot form in T20Is as they vanquished New Zealand in the latter’s backyard and roared sumptuously against Sri Lanka after an unfortunate exit from the T20 World Cup, following a defeat against England in the semis.

This will be an exciting series for India as the Men in Blue will be looking forward to carry some sizzling experiments that may initially seem pretty chaotic but keeping the vision of posterity in mind and the 2024 T20 World Cup, Dravid and company will like to have the best resources available at their behest.

With Hardik Pandya leading the lines, the most intriguing factor for the Indian fans will be that of the opening slot as it is going to be a stiff race between Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Prithvi Shaw. The middle-order somehow will be heavily reliant on two big names in Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya to get those important runs coming.

New Zealand have an extremely talented side at their disposal as they are deemed as one of the finest T20I units across the globe and the kind of rampage that they are capable of bringing to the arcade will keep the Indians on their toes always. 

The presence of hard-hitters like Glenn Phillips, Devon Conway, Finn Allen and Mark Chapman can crack open the gates with consummate ease that will force India to step forth in their most intimidating avatar if they are to match the supremacy of the Kiwis.

Venue Watch:

Not many T20Is have been previously hosted by this venue and out of the 3 games played, 1 of them has been won batting first while 2 have been won chasing. The average score batting first is 155 while the average score chasing is 110. The surface has previously offered a fine balance between bat and ball and the second half of the game may see dew coming on that can very well be a determining factor. 

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 22

India: 10

New Zealand: 9

Match Details:

India vs New Zealand

JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi

26th January 2023

7:00 PM IST

Squads:

India:

Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Prithvi Shaw, Mukesh Kumar.

New Zealand:

Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver (wk), Devon Conway (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rippon, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner