Revealed: Why India snubbed Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav from 1st T20I Vs New Zealand

Revealed why India dropped Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav from playing XI [Source: AFP Photo]

The ODI series between India and New Zealand is done and dusted, and the focus has shifted towards the T20Is as both sides will look to fine-tune their things before the T20 World Cup. The first game of the series will be played in Nagpur, and New Zealand elected to bowl first as dew is set to arrive post 8:30 PM.

Eyebrows were raised when Suryakumar Yadav, the Indian captain, revealed the playing XI, and some big names were missing out, including the reliable duo of Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav. While the omission of Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi was justified, questions were raised as there were no Harshit and Kuldeep in the scheme of things.

Revealed: Why Harshit Rana, and Kuldeep Yadav were snubbed

Harshit Rana’s absence is mainly due to his workload management. The pacer was involved in all three ODI matches against New Zealand, and the management is carefully looking at his work ahead of the T20 World Cup. Moreover, he delivered with the bat in the ODIs, but looked lethargic with the ball as the team wants to give him some rest in the T20Is.

Most likely, India might rest Harshit for the next T20I as well, and his services could be needed from the third T20I onwards.

Kuldeep Yadav’s case is a bit different. The bowler failed to deliver the goods against New Zealand in the ODIs and picked up just three wickets as the Kiwi batters took him to the cleaners. He looked a pale shadow of his former self and perhaps the management decided to rest him due to his recent failures.

Moreover, India already has Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel as the two spinners, and on a Nagpur wicket full of runs, India doesn’t require a third spinner in the playing XI.

IND Vs NZ: Toss updates

Luck has not been with Suryakumar Yadav as he lost yet another toss, and the Kiwi skipper, Mitchell Santner, had no hesitation in electing to bowl first. He knew that batting second will be easier after dew, and India will need to score in excess of 200 to stand a chance.

Suryakumar Yadav: "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. "

Mitch Santner: "We are going to bowl first. Looks like a pretty good wicket. Looks good to be pretty high scoring."

IND Vs NZ: Playing XIs

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

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 will also hope that bowlers who have replaced Harshit and Kuldeep can deliver the goods).