Wellington: They have hit the homestretch of a memorable three-month tour and a rampant India will be fancying another series win when they clash with under pressure hosts New Zealand in the opening T20 International here on Wednesday.
While regular skipper Virat Kohli is getting the much-needed rest, the Rohit Sharma-led squad will be hoping it has enough left in the tank to record a maiden T20 series win in New Zealand, following a record 4-1 result in ODIs and a historic tour of Australia.
For the World cup, there are still a few spots up for grabs and the T20 series can help the team management zero in on the squad for the mega event in England in May-July. Young wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who was not part of the ODIs, returns hungrier and has a big opportunity to stake a claim for the World cup in the upcoming three T20s.
Veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back in the T20 mix after being omitted from the series against Australia last year and his performance will also be keenly followed. He last played a T20 in July. The series is also an opportunity for Dinesh Karthik, who has done well as a finisher but is still not a sure starter in the eleven.
Shubman Gill, who showed showed glimpses of his much talked about talent in the final two ODIs might get to bat at number three again in Kohli’s absence. Besides Pant, the others who have joined the team are spin all-rounder Krunal Pandya and Punjab pacer Siddharth Kaul. In the absence of seniors like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed have not made much of an impact and they will be aiming for a breakthrough performance.
New Zealand will also be desperate to turn things around after a 1-4 drubbing. They do hold an upper hand over India in the shortest format. They beat India 2-0 in the 2008-09 in the sole bilateral series played on New Zealand soil till date. The Black Caps edged the sub-continental side 1-0 in a two-match away series in 2012 before losing 1-2 in India in 2017-18.
The ball swung initially at the Westpac Stadium on Sunday and New Zealand pacers will be itching to exploit that but they won’t have the services of premier fast bowler Trent Boult, who has been rested.