Jaipur. Taking lessons from the T20 World Cup failure, the Indian team in the three-match T20 series against New Zealand under the guidance of new captain Rohit Sharma and new coach Rahul Dravid will take on the Kiwi team in the first T20 match to be held here on Wednesday. She will come down with the intention of taking revenge for her defeat.
While India will have a new captain in this series, New Zealand captain Kane Williamson will not play in this three-match series against India to stay fresh in the Test series. He will be replaced by veteran fast bowler Tim Southee, who has previously captained the Kiwis. India has selected a 16-man squad for the limited overs series. Several senior players have been rested, including Virat, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. On the other hand, Mohammad Siraj can be seen playing T20 matches after a long time. Yuzvendra Chahal is also part of the team, who did not get a chance in the World Cup squad.
Within 24 hours of playing the World Cup final in Dubai, the New Zealand team has reached Jaipur, India, to play T20 and Test series, where about 10 New Zealand Test specialist players had already reached. India had suffered a crushing nine-wicket loss to New Zealand in their second match of the World Cup, Virat Kohli, who was the Indian captain in the World Cup, has already given up the captaincy of the T20 format, while the tenure of coach Ravi Shastri also took place in the World Cup. after is over. Rohit Sharma has been made the new captain of the T20 team while Dravid has been given the responsibility of the coach’s post. Now it is up to Rohit and Dravid to find the right balance for the first T20I so that the team can make a winning start in the series.
In the opening with Rohit, opener and newly appointed vice-captain of the team Lokesh Rahul will land. Four new or near-new players have been given the opportunity in the team. Rituraj Gaikwad, the highest run-scorer in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, made his debut during the T20I series against Sri Lanka in July. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and fast bowlers Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan are awaiting their debut. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who missed out on a place in the T20 World Cup despite a stellar performance in the second leg of IPL 2021, is making a comeback to the Indian team. Rahul Chahar, who replaced him in the World Cup squad, has been left out of the team. Also mystery spinner Varun Chakraborty is also not a part of the current Indian team.
Shreyas Iyer, who was ruled out of the World Cup squad after being denied match practice after recovering from a shoulder injury, is back in the squad. Axar Patel, who was initially part of the T20 World Cup team, is also included in this team. He was sent to the reserve players just before the start of the World Cup and was replaced by Shardul in the main team. This will be the first series under India’s new coach Rahul Dravid.
Apart from Tim Southee in New Zealand’s team, only Kyle Jamieson, Darryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner will play in both T20 and Test series. At the same time, the team management is keeping an eye on the injury of Lockie Ferguson, who was ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to injury. However, he is better now and New Zealand Cricket has said that he will play in T20 matches once he is fully fit.
The two teams are as follows:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Lokesh Rahul (vice-captain), Rituraj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Akshar Patel, Avesh Khan.
New Zealand: Tim Southee (captain), Daryl Mitchell, Martin Guptill, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Tim Sifert (wicketkeeper), Mark Chapman, Todd Astle, Trent Bolt, Lucky Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner, E.
