Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav benched as New Zealand invite India to bat first in 1st T20I

India vs New Zealand - (Source: X.com)

On Wednesday, India and New Zealand locked horns for the 1st of five-match T20I series at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. The two teams are fresh off a thrlling ODI series, but the stage is now all set for the shortest format of the game as the series will act as the perfect rehearsal ground ahead of T20 World Cup 2026. 

Talking about the coin flip, the fortune favoured New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner, who won the toss and opted to field, asking India to bat first at home. Talking about the two teams, New Zealand have a different leadership from the ODIs and will miss Michael Bracewell, who will miss the match because of injury sustained in the 3rd ODI.

For New Zealand, Kristian Clarke, who made a strong presence in the ODIs, is making his T20I debut. He will be assisted by the experienced players like Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson. For India, Harshit Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravi Bishnoi are on the bench.

India vs New Zealand playing XI

New Zealand Playing XI: Devon Conway (wk), Tim Robinson, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi

India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

India vs New Zealand Captains Thought

Mitchell Santner (New Zealand Captain): "We are going to bowl first. Looks like a pretty good wicket. Looks good to be pretty high scoring. What the guys did last week was pretty special. Every team knows how tough it is to come and win in India. We have got 5 tough games in their home conditions ahead of the T20 World Cup."

Suryakumar Yadav (India Captain): "Happy to bat first but we were also looking to bowl first. Last few days there has been dew here. But yeah, batting first, putting runs on the board, we might face such issues in the World Cup so yeah, happy to bat first. Fine-tuning. Yeah, definitely some runs. We have a nice atmosphere in the change room."

Why is Shreyas Iyer not part of India's playing XI for 1st T20I?

Notably, a day before the first T20I, India captain Suryakumar Yadav addressed the press where he confirmed that Ishan Kishan will get a place ahead of Shreyas Iyer because they are keeping T20 World Cup in mind.

Notably, Iyer was not part of the original squad, but came as a replacement for injured Tilak Varma. "Ishan will bat at No. 3, since he is in our World Cup team, and we picked him first, so it's his responsibility and his turn to play, and he's not played for India for a long time," Suryakumar said.

Ishan has been named at No.3, which means that SKY will continue to bat at No.4