New Zealand vs India 2019, First T20I - Toss Report

India won the toss and decided to bowl first against New Zealand in the first T20I at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

Here is what the captains said:

Rohit Sharma:

“We’re bowling first. We have had a good record chasing. Gives us another opportunity to see how we can bat second. Looks like a good pitch. Like I said on the 5th ODI, we wanted to bat second as there was some moisture on the pitch and challenge them. A lot of the guys who have played ODIs have gone back. Guys like Rishabh and Krunal are back and we need to give them some chances.”

Kane Williamson:

” It’s important to assess the conditions. Mitchell makes his debut today. Some regular faces, but the two missing out are Bracewell and Neesham. A new squad brings some freshness.”

Preview:

While the T20Is are currently played with a different mindset than that of ODIs, the series gives India a good chance of fine tune some areas before the World Cup. The Indian team-management will be keen to see how Rishabh Pant fares with the bat in the testing conditions of New Zealand. Pant has been backed by many to make it to the World Cup squad but with not much time left before the event, the team-management will have to gamble on the youngster. A good performance in the series could surely pave the way for Pant. Apart from this, India have not much to try out as they will be looking to make the most of their thumping 4-1 win over the hosts in the ODIs.

New Zealand, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from the heavy thrashing in the ODIs. The Kiwis, however, will have to play the series without their most successful T20I batsman Martin Guptill who has been ruled out of the seires with an injury. While form is definitely not on their side, New Zealand enjoy an upper hand over India in T20Is.

Playing XIs:

India: 

Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Vijay Shankar, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, K Khaleel Ahmed

New Zealand:

Colin Munro, Tim Seifert(w), Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson