After a horrendous T20 World Cup campaign, India look to start afresh under Rohit Sharma when they play New Zealand in a three-match T20 series, starting November 17 (Wednesday) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. With Rohit and Rahul Dravid at the helm, the men in blues will hope to adopt a template with less than a year to go for the next global T20 meet in Australia.
New Zealand have not had too much time to reflect on the loss to Australia in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021. They will be without captain Kane Williamson and pacer Kyle Jamieson for the T20I series, who will join the Test squad. Tim Southee will stand in as captain for the three games.
🗣️🗣️ "It's important to focus on everyone and not just on one individual."#TeamIndia T20I captain @ImRo45 on whether the focus would only be on certain players during the #INDvNZ series. pic.twitter.com/7YUFQz5TAu
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 16, 2021
Meanwhile, India have included a couple of newcomers with a couple of T20 specialists making a return with Rohit at the helm as they look to build a new setup for the next T20 World Cup. Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel are in line to make their India debut.
On the other hand, the likes Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, and Mohammed Siraj, who are currently on the fringes of the T20I setup, will be looking to a make case for themselves with the next World Cup not too far away.
Match Details
Details: India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Time: 7:30 PM IST, Toss: 7:00 PM IST
Pitch Report
The venue has never hosted a T20I and the last international fixture was in 2013 when Australia were thrashed by India. The batters can expect a true wicket where stroke-making should be easy.
India vs New Zealand – Predicted Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Axar Patel/Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal.
New Zealand: Daryl Mitchell, Martin Guptill, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee (c), Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
India vs New Zealand – Match Prediction
The Kiwis handed the hosts a humiliating defeat when both teams locked horns in the Super 12s of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. However, it is a different ball game altogether when India play at home.
They enjoy a stellar record in the last couple of years and will be favourites to go 1-0 up in the three-match series.
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