New Delhi: After impressive 53-run victory in the first T20 International, India will be aiming to clinch yet another series at home as they take on New Zealand in the second T20I at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot on Saturday (November 04).
The victory in the opening T20I was India’s first ever win over Kiwis in the game’s shortest format. The Virat Kohli-led side will now be eyeing to continue their dominance. However, New Zealand have the ability to bounce back and they will take the cue from the fact that their head-to-head record against India still reads impressive at 5-1.
In Delhi, which was Ashish Nehra’s farewell match, openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma posted a record opening stand of 158 runs. The India camp will be expecting similar sort of performance from the openers yet again.
Thanks to Dhawan and Rohit’s blazing batting, the middle order was not required to do much. However, Hardik Pandya, who was promoted to number three, failed to open his scoring. The all-rounder will be keen to stamp his authority in the second match.
After solid batting display, Indian bowlers complimented their batters and made things worse for New Zealand. Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel shared four wickets between them and that is enough to keep Kuldeep Yadav on the bench for the second consecutive game.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah will continue to lead the attack. And chances are Mohammed Siraj will be handed debut as he is set to replace Ashish Nehra.
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be fighting to stay alive in the series. The Blackcaps might include Ross Taylor, who was added to the T20I squad following Todd Astle’s injury, to the playing XI to boost their batting. All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme, who has had a poor outing with both bat and ball, is set to be dropped. Thus, we expect Kiwis to make a couple of changes to their playing XI.
India have played just one T20I at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium and that too way back in 2013 when the home side defeated Australia.
Teams (from):
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, KL Rahul.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Trent Boult, Tom Bruce, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
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