The five-match T20I collection between India and New Zealand, starting on Wednesday, January 21, shapes up as a well timed and precious warm-up for Suryakumar Yadav’s Males in Blue and Mitchell Santner’s Blackcaps as they fine-tune preparations forward of the looming international event.
With the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 lower than a month away, each side view this contest as a ultimate alternative to refine mixtures, sharpen ways, and handle lingering issues earlier than the highlight intensifies.
India enter the collection near full energy, however not with out a few enforced changes. Accidents have disrupted a number of the authentic planning, with Tilak Varma set to overlook the primary three matches and Washington Sundar dominated out of the collection completely. Regardless of these setbacks, the hosts are anticipated to area their strongest obtainable XI, making certain that key figures equivalent to tempo spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and influential all-rounder Hardik Pandya get precious match time. The collection additionally carries private significance for wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, who might be desperate to profit from these 5 video games after a difficult part, aiming to cement his place on the high of the batting order.
New Zealand, in the meantime, arrive with confidence boosted by their latest success within the ODI leg, the place a second-string facet managed to outplay India. The duty now’s totally different. With a number of first-choice gamers coming back from franchise commitments around the globe, the main focus might be on reaching cohesion shortly. Making certain that their skilled T20 campaigners adapt seamlessly into the setup and carry out in sync might be essential.
For each groups, the collection is much less about experimentation and extra about precision.
IND vs NZ, T20I Sequence: Schedule
- 1st T20I: January 21 at Vidarbha Cricket Associaltion Stadium, Nagpur
- 2nd T20I: January 23 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Worldwide Stadium, Raipur
- third T20I: January 25 at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati
- 4th T20I: January 28 at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
- fifth T20I: January 31 at Greenfield Worldwide Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
*All matches will start at 7:00 pm IST/ 1:30 pm GMT/ 7:00 pm native
Additionally READ: Shreyas Iyer or Ishan Kishan? Suryakumar Yadav confirms India’s No. 3 for New Zealand T20Is
Squads
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shreyas Iyer (for 1st 3 T20Is), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kristian Clarke, Zakary Foulkes
Broadcast and Stay Streaming particulars
- India: Star Sports activities; JioHotstar
- New Zealand: Sky Sport NZ
- USA: Willow TV [Sign up here]
- UK: TNT Sports activities
- Australia: Fox Cricket
- South Africa: Supersport
- Center East and North Africa: YuppTV
Additionally READ: Sanjay Bangar picks Team India’s all-time T20 XI ahead of New Zealand series; names Virat Kohli as captain
