India will take on New Zealand on the 31st of October in the 28th Match of the T20 World Cup 2021.
Both these teams have played one game each in the tournament which was against Pakistan in both these sides ended up on the losing side which makes the team winning this fixture a top contender for making it to the semis.
India entered the tournaments as hot favourites but a 10 wicket defeat against the arch rivals Pakistan have raised some selection issues in the camp. Hardik Pandya is still not bowling which raises questions over his place in team and there are talks of replacing him with Shardul Thakur or Ishan Kishan. In the bowling department, India might replace either of Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Varun Chakravarthy to bring in Ravichandran Ashwin.
Players to watch out for
1) KL RAHUL
KL RAHUL is playing his maiden T20 World Cup, he had a off game few nights back against Pakistan and now he would like to leave his mark in this tournament with a match winning inning as he came into this World Cup with loads of expectations to continue his dream run. KL Rahul has pretty good numbers against New Zealand and he was the Man of the Series when India defeated New Zealand 5-0 at their own backyard last year.
2) Rohit Sharma
Rohit is a big match player and after failing badly against Pakistan his ego would have been quite hurt. He is not someone who is consistent in this format but can win his team games on his own once he gets going. Along with KL, he would like to provide India the dream start they want to bring their campaign on track in this ongoing T20 World Cup.
3) Martin Guptill
He's the most senior guy in the side and has very good numbers in T20Is and a big inning is expected from him in the game against India. He has the ability to strike really long and if he gets going he can do some serious damage to the Indian bowling
4) Ish Sodhi
As the T20 World Cup is going on in the UAE, the mantra to win is to spin and for that reason this Ludhiana born spinner becomes crucial. He has very good numbers in T20Is and has accounted for 75 wickets in 58 games and would definitely like to add more to his tally. He can make life difficult for the India batters in Dubai.
Stats
Head to head
Total 16 matches
8 won by NZL
8 won by IND
India have never defeated New Zealand in any format's World Cup in the last 18 years.
Overall, India and New Zealand have locked horns 10 times in all formats of the World Cup out of which India have won only three and lost seven.
In T20 World Cup, New Zealand has never been defeated by India
NZL Won in 2007
NZL Won in 2016
Martin Guptill needs 44 runs to complete his 3000 T20I runs.
Mitchel Santner's best bowling figures of 4/11 came against India in the 2016 T20 WC.
Guptill needs 3 more sixes to become the first player to hit 150 sixes in T20Is.
Most Runs in Head to Head
Rohit Sharma 338
Kane Williamson 325
Virat Kohli 302
Most Wickets in Head to Head
Ish Sodhi 17
Mitchell Santner 12
Jasprit Bumrah 10
Tim Southee 10
India Squad : Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami
New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Adam Milne
India 11
R Sharma, K Rahul, V Kohli (Captain), Suryakumar Yadav, R Pant, H Pandya, R Jadeja, B Kumar/R Ashwin, M Shami, J Bumrah, V Chakravarthy
New Zealand 11
M Guptill, D Mitchell, K Williamson (Captain), J Neesham, D Conway, G Phillips, T Seifert, M Santner, Ish Sodhi, T Southee, T Boult
Dream 11 Team
K Rahul (c), R Sharma, V Kohli, K Williamson, D Conway, D Mitchell, J Neesham, J Bumrah, M Shami, V Chakravarthy, T Boult
