🏏New Zealand vs India : 1st T20I: VCA Stadium, Nagpur on 21/01/26🏏

🏏New Zealand vs India : 1st T20I: VCA Stadium Nagpur,on 21/01/26🏏

By his admission, Suryakumar Yadav continues to hit the ball well in the nets. Outside of it, he has had to dead bat more questions about not taking it beyond lately.

The India captain, five games away now from leading the defending champions in a home World Cup, staunchly offers that the substance will come and that the style remains non-negotiable.

He can afford to comedically sidestep some of the inquisition, for India are unarguably the best T20I team in the world at the moment. Since the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid combine delivered the world title in 2024, India have won 29 of the 36 matches played in this format.

They may have created a potential stumbling block for themselves by shuffling the top-order deck and messing with the balance of the side with the re-introduction of Shubman Gill but even that is in the past now. Sanju Samson is reunited with Abhishek Sharma at the top and there's room for Rinku Singh to return as the finisher.

The next 11 days should give India a chance to take a closer look at their clockwork precision for any possible red flags before the big tournament. Who better than New Zealand then, to hold up a mirror to this Indian side.

The ambitious travellers from this island country have recently been able to knock the wind out of India's sails in both Tests and ODIs. Their returning captain Mitchell Santner would like nothing better than to go three for three by shaking India up in the shortest format too.

New Zealand have done reasonably well in this World Cup cycle [15 wins and 7 losses in 26 T20Is] but have come up short every time they've faced Australia and England.

Tripping up against the best will not quite cut it if New Zealand harbour hopes of breaking the World Cup hegemony of the 'big three' for the first time in 10 years. They too, then, have under two weeks to get all their ducks in a row.

When: India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I, January 21, 07:00 PM IST

Where: Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur

What to expect: A black soil pitch and some joy for bowlers? The venue hasn't seen too many big scores in the 13 T20Is played there so far. India have a 2-2 win-loss record in the four fixtures they've played there, but ignominiously, the lowest T20I total at this venue also belongs to them - 79 against New Zealand in the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Team News:

India

"Ishan will play at No.3. He's in our World Cup team and we picked him first... I think he's our best bet at No.3"

Suryakumar Yadav put an early end to any doubts and speculation about who will come in for the injured Tilak Varma in the first three fixtures. Ishan, who is also in the World Cup squad, will get the nod ahead of Shreyas Iyer.

Probable XI:Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel/Kuldeep Yadav, Varun CV, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh

Team News:

New Zealand

The visitors will welcome back the trio of Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry and Mark Chapman from injuries. All three should walk into the XI. New Zealand could also look to add a second spinner to the mix, which should bring Ish Sodhi in.

Tim Robinson, who isn't in the World Cup squad, will slot in at the top for the start of the India series alongside Devon Conway, while Finn Allen and Tim Seifert are away on BBL assignments. That pair however, is expected to join the squad for the back end of the series, as are Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne.

Probable XI: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy

Did you know:

- Only Varun CV and Richard Ngarava have picked more wickets in the current T20I World Cup cycle than Jacob Duffy's 42.

- Suryakumar Yadav has not scored a T20I half-century since the tour to South Africa in November 2024.

- Hardik Pandya has smashed 142 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 186.84 since returning from the injury suffered during Asia Cup.

- Since the start of 2023, Matt Henry has picked up 176 international wickets (across formats) - the most in the world by any bowler.

What they said:

"I have been batting really well (in the nets).Talking about the runs, it will definitely come. But at the same time, I can't do things differently. I don't want to change my identity." - India captain Suryakumar Yadav

"It [recent success in India] obviously gives us an edge. We love playing India, and we love playing in India. We have had some recent successes against India in different formats. We are looking forward to the series. The aim, first of all, is obviously to win the series but also have good enough preparation leading into the T20 World Cup 2026." - New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner.

Having suffered a jolt with a 2-1 defeat in the ODI series, India will hope to redeem themselves as they enter the final leg of their preparations for the T20 World Cup title defence when they take on New Zealand in a five-match series, starting today.

While the teams will not be playing at any of the World Cup venues, both teams will have the best of conditions to prepare and make their final assessments of combinations, tactics and form. There will be keen on focus on India’s top-order, given their last-minute shake-up before the World Cup squad announcement last month and the absence of Tilak Varma who is out injured from the first three games after an abdominal surgery.

This will be a crucial series for Team India as this will be the final set of T20Is that they will play before the T20 World Cup 2026 which begins from February 7.

Shreyas Iyer has been included in the India squad for the series against New Zealand, but only for the first three matches. This is because, Tilak Varma, who recently underwent sugery for testicular tortion, has been rested from the side for the the first three games to recover in time for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Shreyas last played a T20I for India against Australia on December 3, 2023. Hence, he will make a return to the T20I side after a gap of 780 days.

During the first ODI vs New Zealand at Vadodara, Washington Sundar suffered some discomfort in his ribs and had to be taken off the field. He has now been diagnosed with a side strain and was ruled out of the remaining of ODI series, and now will miss the T20I series as well. Leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi has replaced Sundar in the lineup.

Sanju Samson To Open!!

Sanju Samson has been in and out of the playing XI ever since Shubman Gill entered the T20I setup since the Asia Cup 2025. With no Gill, it looks like Samson will be back into the playing XI as the opener.

New Zealand have some dangerous players in their squad in the series against Team India. Jacob Duffy is the world's no.1 ranked T20I bowler right now, while Daryl Mitchell is coming into the game on the back of some superb form in the ODIs vs India.

Last-Minute Preparation For T20 World Cup!!

The T20 World Cup 2026 begins on February 7. This will be the last series for both India and New Zealand before the mega tournament, and will act as perfect preparation for both sides.

Shubman Gill Dropped!!

Shubman Gill had been reintroduced into the T20I squad since the Asia Cup 2025 as the vice-captain. However, a run of bad form forced the team management to drop him from the New Zealand series and the T20 World Cup 2026.