New Zealand have announced a power-packed 16-member squad for five T20Is against world champions India starting on October 22. The last time these two teams played each other… the occasion was the T20 World Cup final at Ahmedabad in March, where the Indian team comfortably beat Mitchell Santner’s men by 96 runs. The Kiwi team must be looking to avenge their humiliating defeat in front of their home fans. As many as 13 players from the T20 World Cup squad are going to feature in the upcoming series. Michael Bracewell and Adam Milne, who were withdrawn from the February-March event after injuries, return to face the Indians under Shreyas Iyer.
There are seven fast bowlers in the squad, which suggests the pitches are likely to have a lot of juice. Former New Zealand pacer Trent Boult earlier had predicted the surfaces to be supportive for fast bowlers in the months of October and November. There is already a lot of excitement in New Zealand ahead of the series. There are going to be 12 matches across T20Is (5), ODIs (5) and Tests (2), which is understandable: wherever the Indian team goes, they attract a lot of attention. First, Indians are everywhere, and they throng the venues to see their team in action. Plus, India is the best team in the world across formats, and that helps too.
According to New Zealand Cricket (NZC): “The highly anticipated 12-match tour, which also includes five ODIs and two Tests, is on track to smash NZC box-office records with more than 76,000 tickets already snapped up one month out from the opening match.”
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter is also excited and looking forward to welcoming India off the ground and challenging them on the field of play. “It’s going to be awesome to welcome India to our shores and get summer underway. India is a quality team and a challenging opposition, so to take them on in our own conditions in front of Kiwi fans is really exciting. We hear most of the games are going to be sold out, and it should make for some incredible occasions. We’ve got a near full-strength squad that covers all bases, and I’m excited to see how we compete against the current T20 world champions,” he said.
Rachin Ravindra, however, is not part of the squad, having picked up a shoulder injury during a promotional shoot last week. “We’re gutted for Rachin. He’s going to play a big role for us this summer, so it’s important that he doesn’t rush his rehab, but we’re optimistic he’ll be back for the ODIs,” Walter said.
BLACKCAPS T20I squad
Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith
