In a bid to brush off yet another disappointment of not managing to go all the way in a World Cup, India and New Zealand will take on each other in the first of three-match T20I series starting tomorrow, at the Sky Stadium in Wellington.
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With Kane Williamson set to lead the side, New Zealand will take the field with almost the same set of players who were part of the World Cup squad, minus fast bowler Trent Boult who had decided against taking up the new central contract offered by the board in September.
In the absence of experienced Martin Guptill, Finn Allen will yet again like to make a mark for himself right at the top of the batting order. Blair Tickner is likely to be included in the playing XI in place of Trent Boult.
As for India, the experienced batters in KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli are not part of the T20I series, with allrounder Hardik Pandya set to lead the side.
The development also means that the likes of Shubman Gill (likely to make his T20I debut), Ishan Kishan, and Sanju Samson would be provided with a golden opportunity to showcase their prowess before a formidable unit.
Furthermore the absence of Dinesh Karthik and Mohammed Shami will make way for the return back of Rishabh Pant and one of Harshal Patel or Umran Malik.
IND vs NZ pitch report for 1st ODI
The Wellington Cricket Stadium last hosted a T20I in March 2021, when the hosts comfortably defeated Australia by 7 wickets and 27 deliveries to spare, while chasing a modest target of 143.
The drop-in pitch is likely to be decent enough for the batters to play their shots through the line by trusting the bounce. On the other hand, the seamers are likely to get enough purchase upfront with the new ball.
The possibility of a rain threat would bring the bowlers into play more so, with the overcast conditions likely to hand them an additional advantage.
The average score across the 15 T20Is so far at this venue is 160.8, which is a further testament to how good this pitch at Wellington has been for batting over the years.
