Top-ranked ODI team New Zealand fresh off victory in the just concluded series in Pakistan, head to India, ranked No. 1 in T20Is for a return white ball series that will see them play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs. They face off with new-look teams and young leadership at the helm…
India for a successive series drop Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul from the T20 squad which may be due to the team management’s stand on senior players playing all three formats. This, for workload-management reasons in the build-up to the upcoming ODI World Cup in October. Sharma and Kohli are part of the ODI squad to be played from January 18th to 24th in Hyderabad, Raipur and Indore though.
The T20Is to be played from January 27th to February 1st in Ranchi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad sees Hardik Pandya back as captain with Suryakumar Yadav his deputy.
While Rahul and Axar Patel don’t make it to both squads due to family commitments, Prithvi Shaw and Kuldeep Yadav make comebacks to the T20I squad, Shahbaz Ahmed makes the ODI cut and KS Bharat gets his maiden ODI call-up. An injured Sanju Samson is replaced by Jitesh Sharma for the T20s, Shardul Thakur has been called up to the ODI squad in place of pacer Arshdeep. Singh and Harshal Patel misses out altogether.
Shaw has been in the form of his life in domestic cricket smashing 379 in a recent Ranji Trophy game and ending the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy as one of the leading run-getters.
New Zealand will miss ODI and Test captains Kane Williamson and Tim Southee as they return home after the Pakistan series due to personal reasons. Batsman/wicketkeeper Tom Latham and Mitchell Santner will lead the ODI and T20I squads respectively.
Blair Tickner and Doug Bracewell replace Matt Henry and Adam Milne who miss the series through injury while uncapped left-arm swing bowler Ben Lister receives his maiden New Zealand call-up. All-rounder Henry Shipley who recently made his ODI debut against Pakistan is looking all set for a T20I debut in India
The 15-man squad includes all-rounder Mark Champman, batsmen Henry Nicholls, Finn Allen, Devon Conway and Glenn Phillps, and bowlers Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhi.
New Zealand have not lost a single ODI series since January 2021 except a hiccup against Australia, collecting as many as seven series wins (including the scalp of India). The just concluded ODI series in Pakistan was their first since December 2003 and the first win in Asia in ages. Their last outing here ended in a 1-1 draw in UAE in 2018 against Pakistan.
Head-to-Head
ODIs
Total – 116 | India – 55 | New Zealand – 50
T20Is
Total – 24 | India – 12 | New Zealand – 9
Schedule
ODI
1st ODI – January 18, Wednesday, Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad
2nd ODI – January 21, Saturday, Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur
3rd ODI – January 24, Tuesday, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore
All times 08:00 AM GMT / 01:30 PM IST
T20I
1st T20I – January 27, Friday, JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
2nd T20I – January 29, Sunday, Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow
3rd T20I – February 1, Wednesday, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
All times 01:30 PM GMT / 07:00 PM IST
Squads
ODI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (wk), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Dane Cleaver, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rippon, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner
T20
India: Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav (vice-captain), 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, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rippon, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner
