After the excitement of the T20 World Cup 2021, the focus now shifts to bilateral encounters with India facing off against New Zealand in the first of the three-T20I matches. The first match will be played on November 17, 2021, in Jaipur.
India is coming off a disastrous outing in the ICC T20 world event where they failed to make it into the semi-finals after losing to Pakistan and New Zealand in the Super 12s stage. New Zealand, on the other hand, reached the finals of the tournament beating England in the semis and India in the league stage.
Team India will be under new leadership as Rohit Sharma takes over as the full-time T20I captain and Rahul Dravid takes over the head coach duties and this will give the Men in Blue a fresh start as they begin preparation for the next T20 World Cup to be played in Australia in 2022.
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Keeping the new era dawning in Indian cricket, Team COC presents the Predicted Indian team XI for the first T20I against New Zealand in Jaipur.
Rohit Sharma is expected to open the innings along with KL Rahul. Both the batters ended the T20 World Cup tournament on a high by giving India flying starts against Afghanistan, Namibia, and Scotland.
India also has opening options in Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Venkatesh Iyer. However, it is expected that a couple of new players will play in positions not ideal for them.
Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav have done well in the top order and are expected to hold onto their places at no.3 and 4, especially with Virat Kohli being rested for the entire series.
Rishabh Pant will keep wickets and it is expected that Venkatesh Iyer might make his debut given that he is seen as a potential alternative to Hardik Pandya, given his big-hitting with the bat and medium pace bowling abilities.
Akshar Patel will be playing the role of the spin all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja’s absence and either one of R Ashwin or Yuzvendra Chahal will make it into the XI given the heavy dew possibility at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
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Amongst the pacers, India has the luxury of choosing from Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, and Avesh Khan.
But it seems Chahar and Bhuvneshwar might get the first go given their experience in the format and then the captain and coach might opt for the pace of Avesh Khan, or guile of Harshal Patel apart from Siraj.
COC Predicted India Playing XI for the 1st T20I v New Zealand:
Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Akshar Patel, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, R Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj
