ICC World T20 : India Vs New Zealand in Nagpur on March 15

World Twenty20 - India vs New Zealand: The key battles

Virat Kohli vs Adam Milne: India's batting star Virat Kohli has delivered with the bat when it mattered the most. When it comes to run-chase, Kohli is considered as one of the best cricketers in the world. Be it pacers or spinners, the 27-year-old has an answers for every attack in the world. His unbeaten 41 off 28 balls after Shikhar Dhawan laid the foundation with a magnificent 60 off 44 balls, helped India trounce Bangladesh to lift the Asia Cup title for the sixth time. He is most likely to emulate the same form on Tuesday as well. He couldn’t score runs in the WT20 warm-up games against West Indies and South Africa, where he scored a duck and one respectively. However, Kohli is a known to be a big-match player and can find his form any day and against any opponent. He has played 38 T20Is and has scored 1368 runs at an average of 52.61.

New Zealand pacer Adam Milne made his first-class debut as an 18-year-old for Central Districts in 2009. He claimed a wicket on his second ball and finished with 4 for 52 against Canterbury. His sheer pace and accurate line and length has sometimes earned him comparisons with former Kiwi pacer Shane Bond. After making his T20I debut in 2010 against Pakistan, the 23-year-old has become a vital member in the team. In the recently-concluded T20I series against Pakistan, Milne finished as the highest wicket-taker. He claimed eight wickets in three matches with best bowling figures of 4 for 37. Milne, who has 18 wickets in 14 T20Is, needs a little bit of assistance from the wicket and can do the rest of the job for his team.

On a roll with 10 victories in their last 11 Twenty20 internationals, Team India will kick off the ICC World T20 2016 tournament as favourites when they open their campaign against New Zealand at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday.

India have been in a magnificent form in the shortest format of the game in recent times, registering a 3-0 whitewash against a formidable Australia in their den. They followed the clean-sweep with victory over Sri Lanka in the T20I series and then lifted the Asia Cup title in Bangladesh, without losing a match in the tournament.

Indian and New Zealand have some explosive batsmen and quality bowlers who make the opening match of the Super 10 stage an exciting contest. Some interesting duels between bat and ball are expected to take place during the match

Here CricketNext takes you through some of such possible encounters:

Rohit Sharma vs Tim Southee: Rohit Sharma is one batsman who, once set, can play big innings and is very difficult to get rid of. The Indian opener has been in sublime touch. His unbeaten 98 off just 57 balls was nothing less than an alarm bell for oppositions. Rohit has played 55 T20Is and has 1204 runs under his belt at an average of 32.54. He is also one of the handful batsmen who have got a century in T20Is. He achieved the feat against South Africa in Dharamsala last year when he blasted 106 off just 66 balls. Part of the inaugural World T20 edition in 2007, Rohit, batting at No. 6 in the final against Pakistan, turned out to be the second highest-scorer for India with 30 runs off 16 balls. Only Gautam Gambhir (75 off 54) scored better than him that day to help India beat Pakistan and lift the coveted trophy.

Tim Southee is one of the most experienced players in New Zealand fold. Leading the pace attack, Southee will look to derail India's start. The best quality of the Kiwi pacer is that he can swing the ball both ways and it makes him an effective bowler during the Powerplay. Southee last played a T20I in June 2015 against England in Manchester where he took one wicket, conceding 45 runs in 4 overs. New Zealand will definitely be relying on his experience on Tuesday. If he manages to remove India’s top-order comprising of Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli, New Zealand can have the advantage.

Ashish Nehra vs Kane Williamson: Age seems just a number for Ashish Nehra. At the age of 37, most of the cricketers are seen holding a microphone and commentating during a cricket match or mentoring young players. But Nehra has proved his critics wrong. The left-hand pacer is bowling with the zeal of a youngster. His pace, accuracy and subtle variations of line and length has impressed everyone since he made a comeback in the T20Is against Australia in January. Nehra, who was forced into international exile post India’s 2011 World Cup triumph, made a comeback after almost five years. He celebrated his return with two wickets against Australia and helped India clean-sweep the T20I series 3-0. Continuing his superb show, Nehra claimed 5 wickets in three matches in India’s 2-1 T20I series win against Sri Lanka.

He also took a three-wicket haul to help India start their Asia Cup campaign with a crushing 45-run win over Bangladesh at Mirpur and picked up one wicket in the final of the tournament. Dhoni will most likely be throwing the new ball to Nehra and hope that the pacer dismantles the top order cheaply. If Nehra manages to do that, India’s campaign may begin on a winning note.

Since Kane Williamson has taken over New Zealand’s captaincy, the team has returned to winning ways. Williamson has become the mainstay of the New Zealand batting order. Under his captaincy, NZ defeated Pakistan in a recently-concluded T20I series. Williamson finished as the highest run-getter in the series with 175 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.50.

Though his 63 off 39 in the WT20 warm-up match against England couldn’t give New Zealand a morale-boosting win ahead of the mega tournament, his confidence and match-winning abilities can send any bowling attack on a leather hunt. Williamson has played 30 T20Is and has scored 844 runs at an average of 36.69.

Jasprit Bumrah vs Martin Guptill: Luck and hard work did wonders for young bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah. After receiving his Mumbai Indians' cap from maestro Sachin Tendulkar in 2013, Bumrah's rise has been phenomenal.

The right-arm pacer was supposed to join India’s T20I squad in Australia but a last-moment stroke of luck advanced the debut of the man with an unorthodox action. The Gujarat fast bowler was named replacement for injured Mohammed Shami for the T20I series against Australia.

As luck would have it, Bumrah flew to Sydney, venue of the fifth ODI. On the match day, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was declared unfit and Bumrah was awarded his India cap. His inclusion came as a huge boost to the struggling Indian attack as his 2 for 40 helped India avoid a 5-0 whitewash in the ODI series. The pacer continued his impressive show in the T20I series Down Under, claiming 6 wickets in three matches and signed off as the highest wicket-taker. He also restricted the Kangaroo batsmen from going for big shots. His unique action and temperament in death overs, especially the ability to bowl yorkers, was a welcome and much-needed addition to the Team India’s bowling attack. It didn’t take him long to win skipper MS Dhoni’s confidence who termed him as the ‘find of the tour’.

After his successful stints against Australia and Sri Lanka, Bumrah easily made a place into the Asia Cup T20 squad. It won’t be wrong to call him as Dhoni’s ‘go-to-man’ in the World T20.

Martin Guptill is arguably the most dependable in this New Zealand batting line-up. In the absence of Brendon McCullum, who recently bid adieu from international cricket, New Zealand will be relying on their high-flying opener to do the job. Guptill has been in the form of his life and can play a formidable role in New Zealand's campaign. He rewrote New Zealand record books when he took just 19 deliveries to bring up his eighth half-century during the second T20I against Sri Lanka. His mark was then eclipsed by his teammate Colin Munro some 20 minutes later when the left-hander achieved the milestone in just 14 deliveries in the same match.

If India bowlers manage to get rid of Guptill early, the hosts will surely be on the front foot right from the start.

Colin Munro vs R Ashwin: Colin Munro is one of the most devastating batsmen in the New Zealand outfit. With his hard-hitting batting style, the southpaw can resist any attack in the world and can smash the ball out of the park with ease. His 14-ball 50 against Sri Lanka in a recently-concluded T20I series is the best example of his explosive batting as he blasted seven sixes during his brutal knock. His 67 off 34 in the WT20 warm-up match against Sri Lanka, which guided New Zealand to a resounding 74-run win, is something which can opposition skippers to unease. Munro has played 23 T20Is and has scored 382 runs at an average of 25.46.

India, playing at home, will be heavily relying on their spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin, with his experience and variations, will try to fox the New Zealand batsmen and finish the middle order quickly. Ashwin claimed 9 wickets in the T20I series against Sri Lanka and followed it with 4 wickets in the Asia Cup. The 29-year-old has played 38 T20Is and has bagged 46 wickets with the best figures of 4 for 8. On spin-assisting Indian pitches, Ashwin’s leg-breaks can come handy and can help him turn a match on its head.

Heartthrobs brace up to battle heavyweights

Martin Guptill will need to mind the pace of the Indian pitches first before sending balls into the sky © AFP

The tournament proper is upon us. Its name - Super 10s - says big billing. Its first match caters to the same. India are the heavyweights. New Zealand are the heartthrobs. Considering the World T20 began with fingers dangled at the organisers for their ticketing strategy and the collective anger of the Associates over an unforgiving qualifying round, a blockbuster match between two Full Members at a jam-packed Jamtha cannot arrive sooner.

A slice of the hype went missing last December when Brendon McCullum announced his retirement from international cricket. In his stead comes Colin Munro, who has hit the most sixes in a first-class innings and struck New Zealand's fastest T20 fifty. With Munro, though, comes an asterisk. He has batted only five times in India. Munro managed 19 and 6 for Auckland in the Champions League T20 in 2011 and later made 1,4,1 for New Zealand A against India A in 2013.

Very few from New Zealand's squad have played T20 cricket in Indian conditions. Thirteen of them have played less than 15 games in the country, and the man with the most experience - Ross Taylor, with 46 matches - is coming back after injury.

India, on the other hand, have gone on record to say they are on "auto-pilot" in the shortest format thanks to the exposure from the IPL. Their top order is perhaps the strongest in the tournament and you would think with Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya lower down, there is enough of a failsafe should things go wrong. It has worked so far. India have won 10 out of 11 T20I matches since the start of the year.

Form guide

India: WWWWW (last five completed matches)
New Zealand: WWLWW

Watch out for Ind vs NZ result

Martin Guptill's recent white-ball exploits include a double-hundred at the 50-over World Cup and fifty off 19 balls in a T20I. It is perceived that the slow, turning tracks in India may dilute his menace. He doesn't lack for power - he has a reputation for hitting some monstrous sixes down the ground - but Guptill will need to mind the pace of the pitches first before sending balls into the sky.

He's been rated as a proper batsman, but the highest Yuvraj can bat is at No. 5. He had coped reasonably well on seamer-friendly pitches in Bangladesh and if the time he's spent at the crease has revived his confidence - and he had said it has - that's another match-winner in an already powerful batting line-up.

Team news

The only reason there may be a change made to India's Asia Cup-winning XI is if Mohammed Shami has impressed the management enough to squeeze in ahead of Ashish Nehra.

India (probable) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashish Nehra/Mohammed Shami

New Zealand might need to pick between Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum as the lead spinner. The other toss up might be between Mitchell McClenaghan, who has been part of an IPL-winning Mumbai Indians team, and Adam Milne.

New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Colin Munro, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner/ Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan/ Adan Milne

Pitch and conditions of IND vs NZ match live

Rain probably doesn't strike twice in Nagpur, but it was overcast on the eve of the match and the forecast is said to be partly cloudy on Tuesday. The surfaces in use for the qualifiers here have been dry. Balls have stopped on the batsman a bit - even offcutters from the seam bowlers.

Stats and trivia

• New Zealand have played only one T20I in India - they won it by one run in Chennai in 2012
• It appears India's bogey team in T20Is is New Zealand - four matches, four losses.

Quotes

"I suppose whatever build-up that you have, it doesn't promise success. I think in the international game, it is important that you get your head around changing formats consistently."

New Zealand captain Kane Williamson on coming into the World T20 after playing a Test series at home.

"They have not paid that much attention to who is in the opposition, who I am bowling to or batting against. They have backed their skills, which they also do in the IPL, and that has been an X-factor for our team in the last few series."

India batsman Virat Kohli on the quick rise of players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.