🏏India Tour of NZ 2022: 3rd T20I on 22 Nov at 12 Noon IST - Pg 22🏏

🏏India vs New Zealand - T20I series of 3 matches🏏

1st T20I at Sky Stadium, Wellington on 18/11/2022 at 12:30PM IST

You could gauge the relevance of India and New Zealand playing out T20Is just five days after the World Cup final in the sort of questions that Hardik Pandya was asked in an outdoorsy presser on Wednesday (November 16). The most pressing issue he had to field questions on was his opposite number - Kane Williamson - being released by Sunrisers Hyderabad and whether his team Gujarat Titans would take a swing at roping him in. Hardik did well to steer the conversation back to the cricket at hand - the T20Is, talking up opportunities for his squad that is without some of the seniors who featured until last week.

For his part, Williamson has been relaxed about the SRH axing, just nine months after being the franchise's first retention before a mega auction. The bigger worry on his mind, admittedly, has been the changing landscape of cricket that has seen the likes of Trent Boult and James Neesham decline central contracts in favour of being able to ply their trade in T20 leagues around the world.

The glaring absence of context to the series notwithstanding, the two teams can view it as an opportunity to quickly get over the heartbreak of the last week when they made a semi final exit from the World Cup despite going into the tournament as two among many favourites for the title.

Thank you for the tag.

As always will miss all this matches.

IND vs NZ Match Weather Report India Tour of New Zealand 1st T20I:

The temperature is expected to hover around 21°C on the matchday with 72% humidity and 13 km/hr wind speed. There are 20% chance of precipitation during the game.

IND vs NZ Match Pitch Report India Tour of New Zealand 1st T20I:

The pitch at Sky Stadium is batting-friendly, and it is expected to help batters once more here. Pacers may benefit in the second half of the game, while spinners may come in handy in the middle overs once again on this track.

India lead the head-to-head record in T20I matches against New Zealand 11-9. The two teams have played 20 T20Is against each other, and the Men in Blue have emerged victorious in 11 of these clashes.

As mentioned ahead, India toured New Zealand for a five-match T20I series in 2020. Here is a brief summary of all five matches from that series:

1. IND (163/3) beat NZ (156/9) by 7 runs, Feb 2, 2020.
2. IND (165/8) beat NZ (165/7) via Super Over, Jan 31, 2020.
3. IND (179/5) beat NZ (179/6) via Super Over, Jan 29, 2020.
4. IND (135/3) beat NZ (132/5) by 7 wickets, Jan 26, 2020.
5. IND (204/4) beat NZ (203/5) by 6 wickets, Jan 24, 2020.

Originally posted by: SoniRSippu21

Thank you for the tag.

As always will miss all this matches.

Cheers..

Team news:

New Zealand: Finn Allen gets another opportunity to impress at the top of the order with Martin Guptill axed from the squad. New Zealand's top-order should wear a familiar look as the World Cup regulars are all involved. It's the bowling half that will see changes in the absence of Trent Boult.

Probable XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner

India: Rishabh Pant should play all through with Dinesh Karthik not picked for this series. Yuzvendra Chahal, who went without a game in the T20 World Cup, should get in too in the absence of R Ashwin.

Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda/Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

Did you know:

- Mitchell Santner has dismissed Sanju Samson twice in the seven balls he has bowled to him in this format

- Suryakumar Yadav's tally of 1040 runs is only the second instance of a batter scoring 1000-plus runs in a calendar year

- Bhuvneshwar Kumar has picked 36 T20I wickets this year - only two bowlers have a better tally

What they said:

"In T20 cricket, it's important to be aggressive. We have the guys who have this ability to express themselves. So that's the message from the captain and myself: be aggressive, but also focus on conditions and situations, and use that experience." - India's stand-in head coachVVS Laxman on the team's playing style.

"From our perspective it is that ability to keep looking forward and seeing, crystal ball gazing a little bit into what we think it might look like in a year's time [at the World Cup]. On this occasion we've gone with Finn and are giving him that opportunity to bat at the top of the order." - New Zealand head coach Gary Stead on Guptill's axing.

In the spotlight

Finn Allen began the T20 World Cup with a spectacular takedown of hosts Australia, but his tournament fizzled out after that and he finished with only 95 runs in five innings. As Guptill's successor at the top of the order, Allen's attacking ability is not in question, but New Zealand need him to combine his extraordinary strike rate with a little bit of the consistency that made Guptill at one time the leading run-scorer in T20Is. He will have his task cut out against the swing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh in the early New Zealand summer.

India's tearaway 22-year-old, Umran Malik, had a tough start to his T20I career. His three matches have been on small grounds at Malahide and Trent Bridge, and his high speeds have so far proven costly - an economy rate of 12.44. If India play Malik - they also have Bhuvneshwar, Arshdeep, Mohammed Siraj and Harshal Patel as specialist fast bowlers - then he will have to find a way to offer more control on the small grounds in New Zealand.

Stats and trivia

India's 5-0 win over New Zealand the last time they met in this country remains the only 5-0 sweep in a bilateral T20I series involving two Full Members.

Only eight India players from their 15-man T20 World Cup squad are part of this series.

Suryakumar Yadav is 286 runs short Mohammad Rizwan's tally (1326) of most T20I runs in a year. He has three games to make a push for the record. Phillips needs only 28 to pass Guptill's tally of 678 runs in 2021 and become New Zealand's highest T20I run-scorer in a year.