Having won the three-match One Day International series against New Zealand 3-0, India moved to Ranchi for the Twenty20 International series with Hardik Pandya leading the side. India won the toss and opted to bowl first against Mitchell Santner’s New Zealand.
While seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to be rested in shortest format, India persisted with the opening duo they went in with during the Sri Lanka series. Ishan Kishan and the in-form Shubman Gill were preferred over Prithvi Shaw, who is making a comeback into the Indian team, as already confirmed by the skipper in the press-conference.
The rest of the line-up also largely remained the same. While Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya and Deepak Hooda made up the middle order, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi and Arshdeep Singh comprised the pace unit. Along with Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav made the spin department, with the latter returning to the T20I side after nearly five months.
For New Zealand, Mitchell Santner will be leading the side with Ish Sodhi and Mark Chapman marking their returns.
After the first T20I in Ranchi, the action will move to Lucknow and Ahmedabad for the remaining matches in the series.
Teams:
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner(c), Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
India: Ishan Kishan(w), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh
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