🏏India vs NZ, 2nd T20I - BRSABVEC Stadium, Lucknow - 29/01/23 🏏

🏏India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I - Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow on 29/01/2023 at 7PM IST 🏏

Pressure on India as New Zealand look to seal the series in Lucknow

The focus will be on India's top order with Prithvi Shaw waiting in the wings

Purely going by recent numbers, it's a no brainer to have Prithvi Shaw opening the innings for India in T20Is. But Ishan Kishan's contributions in the shortest format last year in the matches at home and Shubman Gill's meteoric rise in ODI cricket over the last 12 months have forced the management to give these two youngsters a chance after sidelining Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. However, they haven't been able to grab the opportunity so far in the four games India have played in T20I cricket in 2023.

Kishan made a scratchy 37 at the Wankhede against Sri Lanka and Gill came up with a not-so-fluent 46 against the same opposition in Rajkot. Apart from that, both the batters have failed to get going in the other three games, including the one on Friday (January 27) against New Zealand in Ranchi in the same game where the New Zealand openers contributed a combined 87 off 58. While it's safe to say that India's new-look T20I side is slowly taking shape, their opening conundrum is far from settled.

While the futures of Rohit, Rahul and Virat Kohli in this format is up in the air, the calls for Shaw's inclusion continues to grow louder especially with Kishan and Gill finding it hard to nail down their spots. Ruturaj Gaikwad getting ruled out of the series at the last minute should make things easier for the management in terms of handing Shaw a chance. But will it come on Sunday in Lucknow? If it doesn't, then it's fair to say that it might come at least in the final game of the series if Gill and Kishan fail to make an impact again in the second T20I.

India will also hope for a better performance with the ball in the second game if they are to level the series. While the spinners did their job, every single pacer was taken apart in Ranchi. New Zealand on the other hand would be buoyed with their performance especially after failing to win a single ODI on the tour. Daryl Mitchell, who struggled for runs so far, came up with a vital knock and Mitchell Santner appeared to be unplayable on that surface. If they do manage to put up a repeat performance, it will go down as a terrific result given India rarely fail to collect trophies at home.

Pitch Report and Weather Conditions

According to weather.com, on January 29 (Sunday), the weather conditions are favourable for the India vs New Zealand T20I cricket match. The temperature of India’s Lucknow city will be 22° Celsius during the day and drop to 11° Celsius at night. The sky will be clear in the daytime but some clouds might float overheads on the night sky.

The chances of rain are 6% during the day and 9% at night during the match day. The humidity is on the higher side ranging between 75% to 87% and winds will blow toward the East at the speed of 5-6kmph. Widespread areas of smoke and haze, reducing visibility at times are expected to occur during the India vs New Zealand T20I cricket match.

The pitches at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium are both black soil and red soil. Additionally, in all of the 5 T20I games played at the venue so far, the team batting first has won the match, indicating that the wickets do indeed slow down as the game goes on, but the faster bowlers have taken the majority of the wickets. Furthermore, bowlers will relish tailing the ball in the air with higher humidity levels.

The average score in the first inning is 172, and it reduces to 145 in the second. India’s highest total in this venue is 199/2, which was also achieved while batting first. Since the team batting first has won all five of the T20Is played here, the captain who wins the toss will likely decide to bat first. India’s Rohit Sharma’s 111* and Afghanistan’s Karim Janat’s 5/11 are the best individual scores/figures at this venue.

Team News

India: The hosts will hardly contemplate making changes. Shivam Mavi and Umran Malik combined to send down just three overs and Kuldeep Yadav was impressive again. Prithvi Shaw may have to wait for his turn.

Predicted XI - Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand: The visitors are expected to go in with an unchanged XI as well.

Predicted XI - Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner

Thanks for tag. Ind need to win today

In the spotlight

Glenn Phillips had landed in India on the back of a match-winning 63 not out off 42 balls against Pakistan in the ODI series decider, but his scores in three ODIs and the first T20I against India have been: 11 (20), 36 (52), 5 (7) and 17 (22). It's not just the low scores but also the strike rate. If he can find his form, it will really bolster New Zealand's middle order.

Rahul Tripathi made his T20I debut during the Sri Lanka series. In his second game, he smashed 35 off just 16 balls, which included five fours and two sixes. All that inside the powerplay. After the game, Pandya had highlighted Tripathi's intent, for which he was drafted into the side. So a six-ball duck in Ranchi will not dent his confidence, as a couple of early blows from him can put the opposition on the back foot.

Stats and trivia

West Indies have featured in four out of the five T20Is played at this venue. India in only two.

India's previous T20I in Lucknow was in February 2022. Yet, because of a combination of form, injury and rotation, only Kishan and Deepak Hooda from that XI may play on Sunday.

Purely going by recent numbers, it's a no brainer to have Prithvi Shaw opening the innings for India in T20Is. But Ishan Kishan's contributions in the shortest format last year in the matches at home and Shubman Gill's meteoric rise in ODI cricket over the last 12 months have forced the management to give these two youngsters a chance after sidelining Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. However, they haven't been able to grab the opportunity so far in the four games India have played in T20I cricket in 2023.

Kishan made a scratchy 37 at the Wankhede against Sri Lanka and Gill came up with a not-so-fluent 46 against the same opposition in Rajkot. Apart from that, both the batters have failed to get going in the other three games, including the one on Friday (January 27) against New Zealand in Ranchi in the same game where the New Zealand openers contributed a combined 87 off 58. While it's safe to say that India's new-look T20I side is slowly taking shape, their opening conundrum is far from settled.

While the futures of Rohit, Rahul and Virat Kohli in this format is up in the air, the calls for Shaw's inclusion continues to grow louder especially with Kishan and Gill finding it hard to nail down their spots. Ruturaj Gaikwad getting ruled out of the series at the last minute should make things easier for the management in terms of handing Shaw a chance. But will it come on Sunday in Lucknow? If it doesn't, then it's fair to say that it might come at least in the final game of the series if Gill and Kishan fail to make an impact again in the second T20I.

India will also hope for a better performance with the ball in the second game if they are to level the series. While the spinners did their job, every single pacer was taken apart in Ranchi. New Zealand on the other hand would be buoyed with their performance especially after failing to win a single ODI on the tour. Daryl Mitchell, who struggled for runs so far, came up with a vital knock and Mitchell Santner appeared to be unplayable on that surface. If they do manage to put up a repeat performance, it will go down as a terrific result given India rarely fail to collect trophies at home.