Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Time: 7:00 PM IST
Average score at venue: NA
Win percentage while batting first: NA
Pitch conditions:
- According to reports, the groundsmen at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur have been instructed to make a batting-friendly wicket for the opening contest of the three-match series.
- This will be a debut match for the venue in the shortest format in international cricket. Jaipur also has hosted 12 50-over matches and one in the conventional format, which ended in a draw between India and Pakistan. India have won eight 50-over matches here out of the 12 played.
Weather prediction:
It will remain partly cloudy throughout the day on Wednesday as India and New Zealand meet here for their first match of the 20-over series. The temperature will be around 19°C at the start of a contest which will keep dropping down consistently to about 16°C towards the end. The humidity levels will linger between 35 to 50% during the match hours on Wednesday
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 17
India won: 6
New Zealand won: 9
No result / tied: 2
Top 3 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav
Top 3 players from New Zealand: Daryl Mitchell, Trent Boult, Jimmy Neesham
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer
Top 5 players from New Zealand: Daryl Mitchell, Trent Boult, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The contest between India and New Zealand at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday will be the first international match of the 20-over format at this venue. Jaipur has hosted matches of the Indian T20 Cricket League in the past but this is for the first time it is going to host an international contest in the shortest form. The venue has been batting-friendly all along and according to reports, the curators have been instructed to prepare a batting friendly pitch for the first match of the series. Adding more to the batting strength along with bowlers who can contain batsmen at all stages of the game will be key to constituting the playing XI in fantasy cricket for this match.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Clearly, New Zealand are the stronger side among these two even though India had beaten them 5-0 the last time they met in a series for the shortest format. India’s splendid performance of 5-0 series win in New Zealand certainly raised hopes of their revival in bilateral cricket against the Kiwis in this format, given that the Indian team had historically struggled. But their 8-wicket defeat in the recently-concluded World Cup witnessed New Zealand returning to winning ways. Thus far, India have only 6 victories to show against New Zealand’s 9 from an overall 17 matches in the format, and that is something the R Sharma-led team will be eager to improve in this series since they will be playing in their backyard.
MORE INFORMATION: The India versus New Zealand series for the shortest format will be without some of the biggest names in both the teams. India's former captain in the format, V Kohlii, has been rested from the series along with the likes of Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy while Hardik Pandya has been dropped. On the other hand, New Zealand will be without the services of Kane Williamson, who will be skipping the 20-over series in order to prepare for the two-match series for the world championship in red-ball cricket. The senior and experienced fast bowler Tim Southee has been named the captain of the New Zealand side for the three 20-over matches.
Players’ form: India will be hoping that their leadership duo of R Sharma and KL Rahul fire at the top along with the resolute Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer in the middle order. With Kohlii rested for the series, India will be certainly making some changes to their batting line-up which means the likes of young and untested talent in Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan and Iyer can get a look-in along with Shreyas Iyer as one of the batting mainstays. India will also look to exploit the Kiwis’ inexperience against spin bowling, since they have both Akshar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin available for this series. For New Zealand, the absence of Devon Conway and Williamson will certainly force some changes in the batting order, but the Kiwi side is rich enough to come up with strong replacements across departments.
Changes in squad (if any): YES
LIKELY XIs:
India: KL Rahul, R Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj / Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryll Mitchell, Tim Seifert (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Kyle Jamieson, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Adam Milne / Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi.
Fantasy XI: R Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Daryl Mitchell, Shreyas Iyer, James Neesham, Akshar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi, Harshal Patel, Tim Southee.
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Scars still fresh as India, New Zealand look to build for the future
India have found the New Zealand challenge unsurmountable the last two times these two teams have clashed in global tournaments. While India lost in the semi-final against New Zealand in the 50-over World Cup in 2019, their defeat in the second match of the Super 12 stage in Group 2 led to India’s shocking early exit from the World Cup for 20-over cricket, which concluded recently.
While revenge will certainly not be on India's mind given that they had pummelled the Kiwis in their own backyard 5-0 the last time these two teams in a bilateral affair, all actions and steps will be taken in order to ensure that there is no stone left unturned when the next 20-over World Cup is held in Australia in 2022, about 11 months from now.
The series against New Zealand will mark the start of a new era in Indian cricket with R Sharma taking on the responsibility of captaincy in the shortest format, something which has been bestowed upon him after an incredible performance with Team Mumbai in the Indian T20 Cricket League. India also could not have found a better vice-captain option in KL Rahul, who is certainly one of the most improved players across formats in the country and promises to be a future captain as well.
The much-acknowledged Rahul Dravid will be taking on the responsibilities of coaching this Indian team while the support staff is yet to be announced. Former cricketer Paras Mhambrey has supposedly reportedly applied for the role of India's new bowling coach whereas former batting coach Vikram Rathour has reapplied for his role as well. In the fielding department, T Dilip is likely to take up the responsibility after a very successful stint for R Sridhar came to an end.
India's squad against New Zealand for the three 20-over matches is certainly very exciting given that it has some raw and uncapped talent in Venkatesh Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Harshal Patel, who finished as the leading wicket-taker in Indian T20 league for Team Bangalore.
The Kiwis will be giving India a strong run for their money as they have always done. Even though their regular captain Williamson has decided to skip the series for the shortest format, there are plenty of talented cricketers in the New Zealand side who can turn around matches in no time.
The discovery of Daryl Mitchell as a dangerous batsmen at the top in company of Martin Guptill is a positive sign for the Kiwis, who will also be expecting a lot from all-rounder James Neesham, Trent Boult, Glenn Phillips, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner to exploit their knowledge and experience of playing in such conditions.
