India vs New Zealand Highlights 1st T20: India hold nerves to beat New Zealand by 5 wickets

We are done with the national anthems and the players take to the field. Martin Guptill and Daryl Mitchell open for New Zealand.

Bhunveshwar Kumar to bowl the first over.

Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj

Rohit Sharma (India) It's been good, has been only 2 days, been a quick turnaround, back from Dubai, spent a couple of days and back here. But it'll be good for the team. We have Shreyas Iyer back, Venkatesh is debuting , Bhuvi, Siraj and Chahar are back. We're playing three pacers and two spinners. We have one eye on the next World Cup, it's a lot of time ahead, we'll try our options, some results might not be immediate, but the process will be crucial.

Tim Southee (New Zealand) “We'd have bowled as well, keeping dew factor in mind. Pretty disappointed at not winning the World Cup, but this is a great place to play cricket and the team is looking forward to it. Another chance to give chances - 4 changes for us - Neesham, KW, Sodhi and Milne miss out; Mark Chapman, Todd Astle and Lockie Ferguson are in.”

While Venkatesh Iyer makes his debut, Shreyas Iyer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are also returning to the XI. Mohammed Siraj also features in the XI alongside Deepak Chahar.

India win toss, opt to bowl against New Zealand in Jaipur

Matches: 10
Runs: 370
S/R: 128.47
Highest: 67

All of his runs in the IPL have come as an opener.

Iyer, who had opened for the Kolkata Knight Riders throughout the second leg of the IPL, is making his Team India debut.

The Team India head coach is out here! 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar hasn't been in the best of form over the past few months. He was excluded from the playing XI after a wicketless outing against Pakistan in the 2021 T20 World Cup, while Siraj, who is making a comeback in the limited-overs side, had been significantly economical in the Indian Premier League this year (6.78 rpo; 11 wickets).

In the five matches where KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have opened together against New Zealand, the duo has added 225 runs in five innings – including an 89-run partnership. They had opened in all of the five T20Is during the bilateral series between the two sides in 2020.

New Zealand may have been depleted with some of their senior players missing, but Rohit Sharma has insisted that the side is full of match-winners. 

"They are a very formidable team. And over the years, we've seen that they play well as a team. Having said that, you know, this is not really dependent on one individual. There are other individuals there who take the game away from the opposition on any given date," said Rohit.

“It's obviously a pretty busy schedule, we knew this was going to be the case even leading into the T20 World Cup, we had a series in Bangladesh and Pakistan, (some of) the guys were at the IPL, so something over the last couple of years have made scheduling a lot tougher,” Tim Southee said ahead of the 1st T20.

Will it be Rohit-Rahul or Rohit-Ishan? Or will KL Rahul be tried as a finisher with Venkatesh Iyer making his debut? And oh, we haven't even talked about Ruturaj Gaikwad yet, who is the Orange Cap winner of this year's IPL.

Such questions usually pop up with the problem of plenty. The same problem hurt India badly in India's Super 12 stage, when Rohit Sharma was sent at no.3.

The last time India met New Zealand, it was a one-sided affair in the T20 World Cup. The Kane Williamson-led Kiwi side eased past India by 8 wickets. In their last bilateral series meeting, however, India had secured a 5-0 clean sweep victory.

H2H Record:

Matches: 17
India won: 6
New Zealand won: 9
Tied: 2

It is not only a new era in terms of changes in roles. With many senior players like Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami rested, it will also be an opportunity for youngsters to put their best foot forward as Team India prepares for the 2022 T20 World Cup.

While three players have received a maiden call-up, three others have only made their T20I debuts this year.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of India vs New Zealand 1st T20 in Jaipur. While Rohit Sharma leads the Indian team, Tim Southee will lead the Kiwis in absence of Kane Williamson, who has opted to rest to prepare for the Test series.