New Zealand vs India 2020, 1st T20I - Toss Report

In the pre-series press-conference, India skipper Virat Kohli had said that his team is not thinking about avenging the loss in the World Cup semifinal last year because New Zealand players are so nice. But one knows that all of it would change as soon as the teams take to the field as Virat Kohli knows only one way of playing and that is to remain competitive.

He might not be that animated on the field against the ‘nice’ opposition but the competitiveness is sure to be there. What will motivate India more is their poor record in T20Is in New Zealand. India have not won a T20I series in New Zealand and will be desperate to do that. The Men in Blue are also slightly favourites for the upcoming series given the way things have panned out in recent times.

While India arrived in New Zealand on the back of a thumping win over Australia in ODIs while the Black Caps were thrashed by the Aussies in their last assignment which was a three-match Test series. But then again, New Zealand are more than capable of beating any team in their own backyard and thus one can expect a cracker of a contest in the first T20I.

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All set for the 1st T20I against New Zealand #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/npwnubL0uL

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 24, 2020

Toss Report:

India won the toss and decided to bowl first against New Zealand at the Eden Park,Auckland.

Here is what the captains said:

Virat Kohli:

“We’re gonna have a bowl first. Looks a nice pitch to bat on. It might be hard to pick the ball up initially due to twilight. We’re pretty much fine (from the travel) but we’re fine now. We’ve played 50-over cricket (heading to this series) and are ready for T20 cricket. The five guys not playing are Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Sanju Samson. The character to bounce back from difficult situations gives us an edge in alien conditions. We just gotta come out and play with belief in our abilities.”

Kane Williamson:

“It was a 50-50 decision with the track being used. We would want to get some runs on the board first and then defend it. The two guys missing out are Mitchell and Kuggeleijn.”

Playing elevens:

New Zealand:

Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Tim Seifert(w), Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Hamish Bennett

India:

Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul(w), Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami