Dubai: After suffering a horrendous defeat at the hand of their arch-rivals Pakistan, India would be determined to revive their campaign as they face New Zealand in a ‘do-or-die’ game in the T20 World Cup 2021 Super 12,Group 2 in Dubai on Sunday.
The Men in blue had their saviours in the form of skipper Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant in the last game as they suffered collapse in their top order while the bowlers were unable to create chances.
New Zealand has recently become a nemesis for the Men in Blue especially Kiwi bowlers tend to better the Indian batsmen at crucial moments. A major concern will be the availability Hardik Pandya alongside an out-of-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Hardik is far from the swash-buckling all-rounder he used to be after his back injury while Bhuvneshwar’s tenacity has gone down for the last few months.
Shardul Thakur, who made the squad replacing Axar Patel at the very last moment could replace Pandya considering the Mumbaikar’s recent heroics with the bat. Also the other way round, it could be Ishan Kishan, the youngster who has been going through a purple patch could squeeze into the side for Hardik while Bhuvaneshwar could be replaced by Shardul.
Star seamer Jasprit Bumrah also need to get back to his groove being undisputed leader of the pack in the bowling unit while spinner Varun Chakravarty, who came into this side earning a lot of reputation in the recently concluded Indian Premier League(IPL) will be determined to prove his critics wrong.
New Zealand, too lost first their game in the tournament and that also against Pakistan. Their batting line up looked out of shape although somehow managed to score 134/8. In reply, the Kiwi bowlers did manage to stretch the game to the wire but were unable to keep things tight at the death.
The Kiwis will look to exploit India’s fragility against left-arm fast bowling with Trent Boult taking the charge ready to repeat what Shaheen Shah Afridi did. Tim Southee will also look forward to test the technique of the Indian batsmen making them fall in his traps.
Skipper Kane Williamson’s fitness has a few question marks with him being the talisman in the batting line up. However, the toss will play major role with the dew playing its parts in the matches in evenings.
When will the Group 2 match of the T20 World Cup 2021 between India and New Zealand take place?
The match between India and New Zealand will take place on 31 October 2021.
What is the venue for the India and New Zealand match?
The match will take place at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
When will the India vs New Zealand match start?
The match will begin at 7.30 pm IST. The toss will take place at 7 pm IST.
Where and how to watch live coverage of the T20 World Cup match between India and New Zealand?
The IND vs NZ match will be telecast on official broadcaster Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Star Sports 3 HD.
How to watch the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 IND vs NZ match online?
The live streaming of the match will also be available on Disney+ Hotstar and Jio TV in India.
Here’s the full squad of both the teams
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Martin Guptill, Mark Chapman, James Neesham, Todd Astle, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee
