On-song India look to beat travel fatigue in T20 series-opener against New Zealand

CHRISTCHURCH: Unbeaten in their last two T20 series here, the Shreyas Iyer-led India would rely heavily on their batting firepower to outwit New Zealand even though the relatively inexperienced tourists have got barely two days to rest, acclimatise and train for the five-match rubber beginning here on Thursday.

Their most recent T20 clash on New Zealand soil was in 2022 in Napier where the rain-interrupted match ended in a tie via the Duckworth-Lewis method. The series, however, was claimed by India who managed to win the only game that was not wrecked by inclement weather.

In the line-up of batters chosen for the upcoming assignment, only four have previously played T20Is in New Zealand. That includes skipper Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and Shivam Dube.

Therefore, even though the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and 15-year-old sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are known marauders, the nippy and seaming conditions in this part of the world would need some adjustment.

For Iyer, the challenge would be to prove himself in a challenging away assignment after his tenure began with back-to-back losses in Ireland and England.

Mitchell Santner's New Zealand would be eager to make it as difficult as possible for Iyer, who is coming here after India's second successive gold-winning run at the Asian Games and a drawn hard-fought home series against the West Indies.

However, if the New Zealand series follows the script that unfolded in the UK earlier this year, pressure will only mount on Iyer, who is expected to lead India in the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand in two years' time.

A confident Iyer said his team is used to playing in different conditions, having taken a long flight from India hours after sharing the home series against the West Indies.

India are also without two proven match-winners in injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who led the team when they toured in 2022, and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who will only play ODIs and Tests in this tour.

However, even though Sooryavanshi is likely to warm the bench, the batting is oozing with firepower as demonstrated by Abhishek and Samson in the home assignment against the west Indies. By Iyer's own admission, it is the bowling that needs fixing.

The return of veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar after nearly four years and fit-again mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy should solve part of the problem but questions remain over the abilities of all-rounders Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube.

India like to bat till number eight and they are unlikely to shed that mindset to strengthen their bowling.

New Zealand captain Santner expects the conditions to vary over the course of the series but said offering flat tracks to a power-packed India may not be the best strategy. He would hope that his own big-hitters like Glenn Phillips and Finn Allen outperform the Indian stars.

The injury-forced absence of Rachin Ravindra opens up an opportunity for veteran Devon Conway to move up the order.

"If there is something in the pitch for the seamers to start, it's obviously nice, but throughout the series we're going around the country, they're not all going to be green seamers and flying around. So both teams are going to have to adapt quickly to the conditions and then play accordingly," Santner said.

Given the expectedly pace-friendly conditions, New Zealand has variety with strong options in Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson and Blair Tickner.

But despite the jet lag, India would be overwhelming favourites to come good. The two countries are celebrating 100 years of sporting ties this year and the T20Is would be followed by a five-match ODI series and two Tests.

Squads:India:

India: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.

New Zealand: 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.

Match starts 12.30 PM IST.