India and New Zealand have developed quite the rivalry. It may not be as emotional or one-sided as India vs Pakistan, but it has become as gruelling and fiercely contested as India vs Australia. India don’t tour New Zealand often: just four times in the last 15 years. It’s even rarer these days for a team to travel for a full-fledged tour covering all three formats. That makes this upcoming tour something of an exception, but also one that promises to be vastly different from any assignment this Indian team has undertaken in recent times.
First things first. With the long tour beginning with the T20Is on Thursday, don’t expect it to be anything like the West Indies series, where runs flowed freely and sixes smoked with ease. New Zealand’s grounds may be smaller, but the winds can make all the difference. Rest assured, batters will have to work hard to post totals of 200, let alone smash batting records as they did in the previous two bilateral T20I series in India.
Also Read: How India have fared in bilateral T20I series in New Zealand over the years
A lot has changed since India last toured New Zealand. Shikhar Dhawan, now retired, was India’s T20I opener, and Suryakumar Yadav world’s No. 1 T20I batter. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was part of India’s bowling setup before being pushed into a four-year exile. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was yet to attend trials for Rajasthan Royals. Rishabh Pant and Umran Malik were the pacers of that squad, as were Deepak Hooda and Yuzvendra Chahal. In fact, only six players from that 15 have made it into the current team.
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya are the only Indian captains to have won a T20I series in New Zealand. Even MS Dhoni endured back-to-back series defeats. Under Kohli, India recorded their biggest series-winning margin in 2020, sweeping the Black Caps 5-0. The more recent 1-0 series win, however, could have swung either way, with two matches affected by rain.
The questions Iyer needs to answer
If Ireland and England were considered Shreyas Iyer’s biggest test yet, New Zealand promises to be a different kettle of fish. The Indian captain played it safe at the pre-match press conference, addressing the usual talking points – gruelling travel, flexibility in batting positions and the wait for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. What he wasn’t asked, though, was how he plans to give the newcomers game time. Will Naman Dhir get a game on the strength of his batting alone, given that his off-spin may not warrant a place in the XI? How many overs will Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav get to bowl? Or will the returning Varun Chakaravarthy be an automatic pick?
Also Read: From Ireland to New Zealand, India seek answers in relentless T20I schedule
Wickets in New Zealand have traditionally been a tad green and more conducive to seam bowling, although much will depend on the pitches that are rolled out. India picking more or less the same squad that faced the West Indies suggests the team management trusts its depth, with as many as nine players embarking on their first tour of New Zealand as part of the senior team.
A closer look at the last five T20Is at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval suggests the average first-innings score is 161, a far cry from the run-fests witnessed in Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati and New Chandigarh. Pacers have accounted for almost 70 per cent of the wickets, while the toss has made little difference, with teams batting first holding a narrow 3-2 edge over those chasing.
The No. 4 position has yielded the most runs. Tim Seifert has scored 104 in four matches, while Glenn Phillips has 96 in two innings.
New Zealand have been dealing with player contract issues for over a year, but this series has seen most of them return for a high-stakes assignment, including Finn Allen, arguably one of the most exciting T20 batters in the world now. Allen last played a T20I for New Zealand early last year, but his strike-rate of close to 185 at home underlines the threat he poses. Unlike the Australia-South Africa Tests, where poor crowd turnout has given the board headaches, Allen’s presence could help draw a capacity crowd close to 30,000 for the two teams vying for supremacy.
For the longest time, New Zealand had the wood over India in ICC tournaments. They went 21 years without losing a title final to India, until the jinx was broken in 2023. The last time these two teams met in a similar setting was earlier this year, when India handed New Zealand a thumping defeat to clinch the T20 World Cup title. Such was India’s dominant campaign that it has almost faded into the background already. The T20I series will be a precursor to the ODIs and, eventually, the Tests, but it will also set the tone for the next 40-odd days.