Bhuvneshwar Kumar to open the attack for India, he is back leading the bowling charge after almost four years. Finn Allen and Tim Seifert to open the innings for New Zealand.
The Indian and New Zealand players are out on the field for the national anthems, with India’s anthem up first, followed by New Zealand’s.
New Zealand Playing XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert(w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson.
India Playing XI: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav.
India skipper Shreyas Iyer wins the toss and opts to bowl first in the series opener in Christchurch. He has no hesitation whatsoever. Mitchell Santner says he would have loved to bowl first as well. India make two changes from their last T20Is against the West Indies, with Nitish Reddy and Mayank Yadav getting a game.
Ishan Kishan is on the verge of scripting history with the bat. He has scored 1,158 runs in 34 T20I innings this year at an average of 37.35 and a strike rate of 172.06, including a century and seven fifties. He needs just seven more runs to surpass Suryakumar Yadav’s record of 1,164 T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year, set in 2022. Kishan is also 139 runs away from breaking Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan’s world record of 1,326 T20I runs in a calendar year, achieved in 2021.
India could opt for three frontline seamers in the series opener, with Prince Yadav joining Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the pace attack and Nitish Kumar Reddy providing an additional fast-bowling option as an all-rounder. Varun Chakaravarthy, meanwhile, returns after another injury-enforced spell on the sidelines. However, finding a place for the mystery spinner in the playing XI could prove difficult if India decide to strengthen their pace attack for the opener.
Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes his return to India’s T20I setup after nearly four years, bringing his experience and ability to swing the ball with the new ball. His comeback adds depth to the pace attack which lacked variety in the past couple of series.
India’s Probable XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
Hello and welcome to our live blog of the first T20I of the five-match series between India and New Zealand. Christchurch’s Hagley Oval plays host to the series opener.
I’m Aditya Maheshwari, and I’ll be bringing you all the action over the next 5 hours.
India face a long stretch in New Zealand, with the T20Is, ODIs and Tests spanning 41 days. But for now, let’s stick to the T20Is. India last toured New Zealand in 2022, shortly after the T20 World Cup in Australia. A lot has changed since then. New players have emerged, while much of the old guard has faded away.
New Zealand are never easy to beat at home, and it will be interesting to see whether Shreyas Iyer’s young team can rise to the challenge.