🏏India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I : Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad 🏏

🏏India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I : Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad 🏏 

Ahmedabad, the venue for the third and final T20I between India and New Zealand, has had its fair share of debate around pitches in the past. 

And the last thing both teams would want is another tricky T20 surface that sees Lockie Ferguson bowl as many overs as Mark Chapman; or Deepak Hooda twice as many as Yuzvendra Chahal.

Pitch aside, India will know that there's work to be done, especially with a young side that's trying to ready itself for 2024.

 After a breezy ODI whitewash, the T20I rubber hasn't been as easy for the hosts. While the death bowling cost them in Ranchi, their batting was under the scanner two days later; India got past a target of 100 with only a ball to spare. 

But the challenging conditions stole the thunder away, hardly allowing the team to assess their progress. For example, Arshdeep Singh bowled the 20th over again after copping some heat in the first T20I, but that he was up against a team limping at 94/8 hardly lent credibility to his five-run last over.

For New Zealand, this is a great opportunity. 

They are without a host of their frontline players like Trent Boult, Kane Williamson and Tim Southee, and are in with a shot to beat India in a T20I series at home - the bragging rights for which has belonged only to Australia and West Indies in the last eight years.

 For Mitchell Santner's team, that will be a great shot in the arm and expect the side to mount a good challenge for the hosts, pitch permitting, of course.

While the pitch in Ranchi left Hardik Pandya "surprised", the India captain was "shocked" by what was on offer in Lucknow. And when the talk is largely about the playing surface ahead of a series decider, especially with India's proud record of 12 undefeated home series on the line, something's got to give.

India: The hosts left out Umran Malik for a second spinner in Yuzvendra Chahal and the pitch again will dictate that decision.

Probable XI: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal/Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand: The visitors have played the same side on what were slightly different surfaces, and they are unlikely to make any change for the decider.

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

What to expect: A nervous curator. 

And a fair few cheers for Hardik Pandya, the Gujarat Titans captain who is also leading the India T20I side now. Like most Indian grounds, teams have preferred to bat second here but in the last couple of games here against England, India showed that it is in fact possible to defend targets here. 

That said, those games were played in March; this one could see some fair amount of dew though. 

It will be interesting to see what pitch the match is played on (Ahmedabad has both red and black soil pitches) but expect the venue to be buzzing again with capacity crowds.

The venue that announced captain Hardik Pandya to the world will be the venue where he today faces his first major challenge as Indian T20I skipper. Ahmedabad and the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium play host to the decider between India and New Zealand in this T20I series. 

Hardik Pandya had plenty to say about the pitch in Lucknow, but today he should be given no chance to complain with some gold standard surfaces available in Ahmedabad. 

The Indian team is unlikely to see too many chances, so Prithvi Shaw will have to wait a bit further for his Indian comeback.

Good luck team India. Win the series. 🍾🍾🍾

Visitors New Zealand have a chance at a rare series win in India - something that no travelling team has managed to achieve since Australia, 2009. 

Despite missing a few regulars, this New Zealand side has competed well, and this surface in Ahmedabad could really interest their quicks if there's some pace on offer. 

We can expect a huge crowd to turn up for this decider, and we should expect a humdinger of a clash.

In the second T20I match, India beat New Zealand by 6 wickets. In that game, New Zealand won the toss and decided to bat first. Coming to bat, New Zealand managed to put 99 runs on the board, but none of their batters managed to cross even a 20-run mark. Arshdeep Singh grabbed 2 wickets for India.

In the upcoming match, both teams will look to win the game to seal the series. 

The temperature is expected to hover around 29°C on the matchday with 29% humidity and 8 km/hr wind speed. There are no chances of precipitation during the game. 

The Narendra Modi Stadium is a batting-friendly surface and is expected to assist the batters hugely in both innings. Pacers might get some help toward the latter half of the match while spinners will be crucial in the middle overs.

Average 1st innings score:

The average first-innings score on this wicket is 171 runs.

Record of chasing Teams:

The team batting second has great records here. They have maintained a winning percentage of 60 on this ground.

Suryakumar Yadav is a right-handed batsman from India. He has hammered 73 runs in this series so far.

Washington Sundar is a left-handed batsman and right-arm off-break bowler from India. He has stacked 60 runs and hunted 3 wickets in this series so far.

Pitch and Conditions: "The outfield and the ground itself looks an absolute picture. 67 meters one side, 71 on the other and 72 downtown. There have been a couple of pitches where the batters have had to work hard, but this clearly looks good. There might be a few brown spots on the pitch but they will only get better. Because of the nice even covering of grass the ball will come on and as the evening progresses will keep getting better. it is a bowl first pitch because of some dew around," analyse Danny Morrison and Ajit Agarkar.

Hardik Pandya: We're going to bat first. Want to put some runs and take the game from there. 

Looks like a very good wicket, we played here in the IPL final where the ball did a bit more in the second innings. Tough on the batters in the last two games, but credit to them for the approach they have shown. This is what as a unit we strive for, we are going to get tested but we will learn from it. These kind of knockout games teach you a lot. One change - Umran comes in for Yuzi.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat