Nagpur: New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bowl against India in the opening match of a five-game T20I series at the VCA Stadium on Wednesday, with pacer Kristian Clarke handed a debut cap.
Left-handed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has returned to the India T20I side for the first time since 2023. With Shubman Gill omitted, Sanju Samson returns as the opener alongside an in-form Abhishek Sharma.
The series comes ahead of the T20 World Cup starting on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka, where the Suryakumar Yadav-led side enter as defending champions. “We were looking to bowl first because we felt there was dew around 8:30pm during our practice.
“But we don’t mind putting runs on the board and we have done well batting first. Shreyas, Harshit, Bishnoi and Kuldeep are the ones who are missing out,” said Suryakumar, who’s playing his 100th T20I game.
Earlier this month, New Zealand defeated India in an ODI series on Indian soil for the first time. “Looks like a pretty good wicket and looks pretty high-scoring. Last week was pretty special. Every team knows how hard it is to come to India and win. But this is a fresh series and they are a tough team in home conditions. Great start for us in terms of prep for the World Cup,” said skipper Mitchell Santner.
In their pitch report, Simon Doull and Deep Dasgupta said conditions in Nagpur would favour bowlers, describing the surface as low-scoring and slow. “This venue has hosted the most T20I games in India. Pretty low-scoring pitch. They’ve relayed the surface well. There are a lot of cracks around it. It’s soft underneath.
“Will be a low, slow pitch. Last time NZ were here, it turned quite a bit, not tonight. Cracks are wide, so the ball will do a bit to find edges. Dew not much. Would still like to chase if you won the toss,” said Doull and Dasgupta.
Playing XIs
India: Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, and Jacob Duffy
(IANS)
