Coming on the back of their historic ODI and Test series win in Australia, the Indian men’s cricket team will be brimming with confidence and look to continue their winning momentum when they head into the tour to New Zealand, featuring five ODIs and three T20Is.
The Virat Kohli-led side ended a two-month long tour Down Under on a high note by becoming the first Indian team ever to clinch bilateral Test series and ODI series win in Australia. The visitors sealed the two series by 2-1, while they settled with a 1-1 draw in the T20I series.
Just like India, New Zealand are also heading into the series following a 3-0 win in the three-match ODI series and 1-0 win in the lone T20I match against Sri Lanka.
As far as squads are concerned, the Indian selectors had decided to rest their premium fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah for both the Australia and New Zealand tour.
In his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead India’s pace attack while Mohammed Shami will serve as the as the second bowler. India, however, will decide between Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj and Vijay Shankar for the place of the third bowler.
The Black Caps, on the other hand, have recalled Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham and Colin de Grandhomme into their 14-member squad for the first three ODIs against India.
The two sides have played a total of 101 ODIs so far, with India winning 51 of them while 44 coming out in favour of New Zealand.
The upcoming ODI series between the two countries will also serve as a great preparation for them ahead of the 2019 World Cup, which is slated to be held from May 30 to July 14.
COMPLETE SCHEDULE
1st ODI: January 23, Napier (7:30 am)
2nd ODI: January 26, Mount Maunganui (7:30 am)
3rd ODI: January 28, Mount Maunganui (7:30 am)
4th ODI: January 31, Hamilton (7:30 am)
5th ODI: February 3, Wellington (7:30 am)
1st T20I: February 6, Wellington (12:30 pm)
2nd T20I: February 8, Auckland (11:30 am)
3rd T20I: February 10, Hamilton (12:30 pm)
Here are the squads:
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli(captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, K Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Shubman Gill.
India T20I squad: Virat Kohli(captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, K Khaleel Ahmed, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar.
New Zealand ODI squad (1st, 2nd & 3rd match): Kane Williamson(c), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.
The series will be telecast on Star Sports Network, while the live streaming of the event will be available on Hotstar Premium.
Source: Zee News