India vs New Zealand 1st T20 Live: Toss Shortly; Ishan Kishan Returns After 1.5 Years, Bumrah & Pandya Ready!

The first match of the T20 series between India and New Zealand will be played at the Vidarbha Cricket Ground in Nagpur. The toss for this match will take place shortly.

Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are returning to the team for this match. Both were rested from the ODI series against South Africa.

The 5-match T20 series is also the final test of India's World Cup preparations, as Team India will be playing the T20 World Cup at home from February 7th. Captain Suryakumar Yadav will be looking to find his form in this series.

2. Series Highlights

Opportunity to settle the score: India has a chance to avenge their defeat in the ODI series. They suffered a 1-2 defeat in the 3-match ODI series.
Eyes on Suryakumar Yadav's performance: All eyes will be on Captain Suryakumar Yadav's form. He has been struggling to score runs lately. He hasn't scored a single fifty in the last 19 matches, accumulating only 218 runs.
Tilak injured, Ishan gets a chance: Tilak Varma has been ruled out of the T20 series due to injury. Ishan Kishan will get a chance at number 3 in his place. Captain Suryakumar Yadav confirmed that Ishan will bat in the top 3.
Pandya-Bumrah return: All-rounder Hardik Pandya and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will be returning to the team. Pandya's inclusion balances the team. The team management can now play a specialist batter or bowler.
3. Head-to-Head

Team India has won 63% of matches at home
The Indian team is ahead of New Zealand in the head-to-head record. The team has won 48% of the matches, while losing 40%. A total of 25 T20 International matches have been played between the two teams so far. Of these, 12 matches have gone in favor of the Indian team, while 10 matches have been won by the Kiwis. 3 matches ended in a tie. The Indian team's winning percentage is higher at home venues. The team has won 63% of the matches at home. The team has won 7 out of 11 matches, while they have suffered defeat in 4.

5. Pitch and Weather Report

Nagpur Pitch will be Slow
The pitch in Nagpur is slow. There will also be less bounce. Therefore, pacers will get some help initially. Batting will become easier later on. Spinners will also get some assistance on this pitch.

The team batting first has won 8 matches here, while the team bowling first has won 4. The average first innings score is 146, which drops to 125 in the second innings, meaning chasing will not be easy.

No Rain Expected in Nagpur
There is a very low chance of rain. The maximum temperature during the day could be 29 degrees Celsius and the minimum 16 degrees Celsius. There will be light dew in the evening.

6. Possible Playing XI

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy.

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, and Jacob Duffy.