In the first T20I match against Team India, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Recently, the "Black Caps" registered a 2-1 triumph against the "Men in Blue" in the three-match ODI series. The visitors will look to continue their momentum in the shortest format series as well. Kristian Clarke is set to make his T20I debut for New Zealand, whereas Michael Bracewell will miss out on the clash due to a calf niggle. After winning the toss, Santner said that he feels that the wicket in Nagpur will be suitable for high scores. He also sees the series as a good challenge before the arrival of the T20 World Cup. "We'll bowl first, wicket looks good for high scores. Guys did something special last week, tough to win in India. Five tough games ahead of the T20 World Cup, good challenge. Everyone's been playing cricket, whether ODIs or franchise games. Kristian Clarke makes his debut. We've got 3 spinners. Bracewell's got a calf niggle, we'll see how it goes," he said. Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav said that even his side was looking to bowl, but also stated that batting first will help them find the right combinations for T20 World Cup 2026. He informed that Team India will miss the services of Shreyas Iyer and Harshit Rana in the clash due to injuries. "Happy to bat first, though we were also looking to bowl. Dew's been a factor here the past few days. Batting first will help us fine-tune for World Cup scenarios. Nice atmosphere in the change room. Only two shuffles due to injuries, missing Shreyas and Harshit. Looking to put runs on board," said the 35-year-old cricketer. IND vs NZ 1st T20I: Confirmed Playing XI India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakavarthy, Jasprit Bumrah. New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (WK), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (C), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.
21 January,2026 09:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentAhead of the T20 World Cup 2026, cricketer Rohit Sharma said that watching the global showpiece from the sidelines for the first time will be a strange experience. Team India's two stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit, are currently active in only one format, the One-Day Internationals (ODIs). "We were talking about this at home, that it will be strange watching it from home, especially the T20 World Cup. From the time it started until now, I have been part of every World Cup, so it will feel different," he said on JioHotstar show. "When you miss a World Cup, the reality really sinks in. That's when you realise you're not going to be part of it. However, I will be somewhere in the stadium. It won't be the same, but it will be a different experience," he added. Speaking on his captaincy decisions back then, the cricketer stated that tough calls need to be taken. "There have been many such instances of taking hard calls before World Cups. You will not be able to please everyone, but it is important for the individual to know why a decision is taken," he explained. He also revealed why Deepak Hooda was preferred over Shreyas Iyer by Team India's management during the T20 World Cup 2022. "We felt we needed someone who could give us a little more with the ball. That's why we went with Deepak Hooda, who was in good form at the time. Shreyas would have felt bad, Deepak would have been happy - that's how it works," revealed Rohit. The "Men in Blue" will begin their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign against the United States of America on February 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Before the global showpiece, Team India will engage in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. The first match between the teams is scheduled to be played on Wednesday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur IND vs NZ T20Is: Full squads India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh. New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kristian Clarke, Zakary Foulkes. (With PTI Inputs)
21 January,2026 09:16 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentAhead of February's T20 World Cup 2026, former cricketer Varun Aaron spoke about Team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav's rough patch in the shortest format of the game. Speaking on 'Game Plan', JioStar expert Varun noted that the skipper has lost most of his wickets in the power play. He also feels that the right-handed batsman is trying to play his lap shot early in the matches. "I think he is trying to play his lap shot too early. He is trying to take the ball from outside the off-stump and go to the on side too early. If you have a look at his dismissals through the last one year, I think, in India, his record has not been good because the wickets were a lot slower in India," said the former pacer. "A lot of the bowlers used a lot of pace-off balls. Amongst the eight times he has got out in the powerplay, four of them were to pace-off balls, and that's something which has plagued Surya through his career," he added. Aaron also feels that Suryakumar should come to bat at number four, the same way he does for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). "The debate is number three or four. I personally prefer him batting at number four, what he does for the Mumbai Indians. The one common factor in all these deliveries (where he has scored runs) is that he is actually playing the ball where it is supposed to be played," he signed off. The "Men in Blue" under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav will lock horns against New Zealand for the five-match T20I series. The first match between the teams is scheduled to be played on Wednesday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur IND vs NZ T20Is: Full squads India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh. New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kristian Clarke, Zakary Foulkes. (With ANI Inputs)
21 January,2026 09:15 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentFormer Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra said that the team is incomplete without Hardik Pandya, highlighting the all-rounder's value. The "Men in Blue" will clash against New Zealand for the five-match T20I series on Wednesday. The contest will also serve as a preparatory series for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026. Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Game Plan', the former cricketer heaped praise on Pandya by saying he can make those contributions with the bat and ball, which no one else in India could. "Team India is incomplete without Hardik Pandya. There is only one Hardik in the entire world. What he provides with bat and ball, no one else in India can do," he said. Further speaking, Chopra said that only Pandya can bowl with the new ball and can also be handy in the death overs. "You might want a spinner like Varun Chakaravarthy or Kuldeep Yadav in the eleven, but then you also need a batter at number eight. You can't have everything, you can't field twelve players. Only Hardik can do this for you. He can bowl with the new ball and make an impact, and he bowls at the death too. He even bowled the final over of the 2024 T20 World Cup which India won. Only Hardik can do such things. You won't find anyone else like him," he added. As the "Men in Blue" will enter the series with their main squad for the global showpiece, the former cricketer sees it as an important series for the hosts. "This five-match T20I series versus New Zealand is very important for Suryakumar Yadav and his team. New Zealand have also come fully prepared. In the ODI series they rested some players, but here their main T20 World Cup squad is playing," said the 48-year-old cricketer. "Will they play two pacers and three spinners? Which batters do they need? If Tilak Varma is fit, will they give Rinku Singh a chance or keep playing Shreyas Iyer? There are many questions to answer before this series," explained Chopra. IND vs NZ 1st T20I: Date and venue The first T20I match between Team India and New Zealand is scheduled to be played on Wednesday at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. (With PTI Inputs)
21 January,2026 09:15 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent47.33SKY’s average across eight T20Is vs NZ — his highest against any country and well above his career average of 35.29 153.51SKY’s strike rate against NZ 100Today’s encounter against NZ is a landmark 100th T20I for SKY SixNo. of wins for India against NZ in the eight matches played by SKY SKY’s good showing vs NZ62, 1, 0, 111*, 13, 47, 26*, 24 SKY’s recent T20I scores12, 1, 39*, 1, 24, 20, 12, 5, 12, 5 10No. of T20I series/tournaments India have won consecutively since January 2024 3No. of wins for India in their last three T20Is at Nagpur 2016The last time India lost a T20I match in Nagpur (vs NZ)
21 January,2026 04:03 PM IST | Mumbai | A CorrespondentSwami Vivekanand International School (SVIS), Borivli, made a solid start on Day One of the three-day MSSA Giles Shield final, posting 276 all out in 79.2 overs against Dnyandeep Seva Mandal (Nerul) at the Brabourne Stadium, Churchgate, on Tuesday. SVIS won the toss, which was conducted by chief guest India cricketer Shardul Thakur, and began with a massive stand of 149 runs off 250 balls between opening batters Kartik Chhajer and Prajwal Taware. Chhajer played the more assertive role, scoring a fluent 90 off 116 (16x4), frequently capitalising on anything loose in the early session. At the other end, Taware displayed exemplary restraint to anchor the innings with a gritty 82 from 191 balls (12x4). India all-rounder Shardul Thakur (centre) does the toss honours before the Giles Shield final at Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday However, once the opening stand was broken, the Dnyandeep bowlers struck at regular intervals to limit the damage. Anup Yadav spearheaded their fightback with 5-76 (20 overs), and was well supported by Atharv Kalel (4-66 from 19 overs). At stumps, Dnyandeep Seva Mandal were 17-0 in 13 overs.
21 January,2026 09:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Rufus VedanayagamIndia wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is not convinced about the concept of work-life balance. Instead, he believes youngsters must challenge themselves by working hard now and think of relaxing later in life. The attacking batter emphasised that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed his approach towards life and made him more serious. “Nowadays, we talk about work-life balance, but I think people need to understand that first you need to work hard, go crazy about your work, and then there will be a time in life when you can relax and chill. But as a youngster, the best thing to do is push your limits because there is a lot of time to recover,” Pant, who was announced as SBI Life’s brand ambassador along with India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja said during a function at a city hotel on Monday night. “My focus in life has been very singular. I feel you have to be mad about something to make it crazy. Once you go to [ages] 35 or 45, you would want to have a more secured thought process and planning, but before that, just grind it out from bottom to the top. Everywhere you go, try to learn and something beautiful will come out of it,” added Pant, 28, who has represented the country in 156 internationals (49 Tests, 31 ODIs and 76 T20Is) scoring over 5000 runs. The big-hitter cited the death of his father Rajendra, as an example of how he learnt to be responsible at a young age (20). “I lost my father when I was very young, but at the same time it taught me to take responsibility in a positive way. That made me really strong, but one major part of getting serious came after COVID-19 [pandemic]. When you are playing as a youngster, you’re not really thinking about your finances. You’re only focussing on playing cricket. In my mind, I only wanted to play for India. That was the only dream; to win matches for India. Everything else is a by-product,” added Pant. Meanwhile, Jadeja, 37, who has 373 international games under his belt, reckoned that security can bring the best performance out of anyone. “It’s important to have security. In cricket, you can play your shots only when you know your place in the team is secure. Similarly, every field needs to have the element of security,” said Jadeja.
21 January,2026 09:23 AM IST | Mumbai | Subodh MayureA delighted skipper, Smriti Mandhana, heaped praise on Gautami Naik’s brilliant knock of 73 off 55 deliveries under pressure, which helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Giants by 61 runs in the Women’s Premier League on Monday. “From where we started in our batting innings, and then to get 180-plus was excellent. [I’m] very, very happy for Gautami. Coming from domestic cricket, but performing at such a big stage and coming in to bat at 10-2, and the way she batted was outstanding,” said Mandhana. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 January,2026 09:19 AM IST | Vadodara | IANSNew Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said he expects Daryl Mitchell to carry his dominant ODI form into the shortest format when the Black Caps take on reigning world champions India in a five-match T20I series starting here on Wednesday. Mitchell was in imperious form during the recent ODIs against India, logging scores of 84, 131 not out and 137 to be a key factor in New Zealand’s unprecedented 2-1 series triumph. “Daryl struggled against spin initially. But he worked incredibly hard and you can see the fruits of labour,” Santner said on the eve of the T20 sereis, putting his senior batter in focus. “He’s playing spin well. He can control the game in middle overs during ODIs. Hope he does something similar in T20Is,” the left-arm spinner added. Santner also underlined the importance of playing in India ahead of the T20 World Cup, calling the tour a valuable learning curve for his side. “We love playing here. For us, it’s about facing a great team in conditions which will be familiar during T20 World Cup,” he said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 January,2026 09:12 AM IST | Nagpur | PTIIshan Kishan will play ahead of Shreyas Iyer in the series against New Zealand as he is a part of India’s T20 World Cup squad and a like-for-like replacement for an injured Tilak Varma being a left-hander, skipper Suryakumar Yadav said on Tuesday. Tilak, an automatic choice at No. 3 has undergone an abdominal surgery and is ruled out of the first three games, starting here on Wednesday. This has allowed Iyer to make a comeback to the national squad for the first three games. However, the skipper made it amply clear that Iyer is being looked at as a No. 5. “Ishan will bat at No. 3 because he is a part of our T20 World Cup team and he was picked in the squad first so it’s our responsibility to give him a chance,” he said in the pre-match press conference. “He hasn’t played for India for past one and half year and in the mean time consistently performed in domestic cricket,” the Indian skipper did not leave any room for guess work. “Since he [Ishan] has been picked for World T20, he deserves to play ahead [of Shreyas]. Had it been a question of batting slots Nos 4 or 5, it would have been a different question altogether. Unfortunately, Tilak isn’t there so Ishan is our best bet,” he added. The T20 World Cup starts February 7 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
21 January,2026 09:07 AM IST | Nagpur | PTIJemimah Rodrigues led from the front to anchor Delhi Capitals' tense run-chase with a gritty fifty, guiding her team to a much-needed seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League here on Tuesday. Put in to bat on a slow surface, Mumbai Indians' struggles in the powerplay continued before Nat Sciver-Brunt played another blinder (66 not out off 45) to take her team to 154-5. After a rather productive start provided by Lizelle Lee (46 off 28) and Shafali Verma (29 off 24), Delhi Capitals lost their way in the middle over before Jemimah (51 not out off 37) calmed nerves in the dressing room by completing the chase in 19 overs. Veteran Marizanne Kapp (10 not out off 6) provided the support that Jemimah needed at the other end and closed out the match with a six. It was Delhi Capitals' second win in five games while Mumbai Indians suffered their fourth loss in six games. "We really need to push when we are batting and bowling in the powerplay," said Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur after the loss. In the powerplay, Shafali missed connecting a flatter one down the leg side from left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma to see her stumps rattled. South African Lee, who is in red hot form thus far, was disappointed after being adjudged stumped off Amanjot Kaur in the 11th over. The umpire took time in taking the call after Lee slightly lost her balance off another one down the leg side. Despite Hayley Mathews' return from injury, Mumbai Indians have not been able to get going in the powerplay. It was no different on Tuesday as the West Indian and her opening partner Sajeevan Sajana fell cheaply, both seeing their stumps disturbed. For Delhi Capitals, Marizanne Kapp was accurate as ever and ended up just conceding eight runs in four overs besides castling Matthews. The onus was again on the seasoned duo of Sciver-Brunt and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (41 off 33) to steer the team to a competitive total. Sciver-Brunt remained unbeaten on 66 not out off 45 balls in a fluent knock including two sixes and six fours. It was her third fifty plus score of the season. Besides the Sciver-Brunt show, the batting performance once again left a lot to be desired. It was only the second game of the season at this venue with batting proving to be more challenging compared to Navi Mumbai. Brief scores:Mumbai Indians Women 154/5 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 65 not out, Harmanpreet Kaur 41; Shree Charani 3-33, Marizanne Kapp 1-8) lost to Delhi Capitals 155/3 in 19 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 51, Lizelle Lee 46; Vaishnavi Sharma 1-20, Amanjot Kaur 1-21) by seven wickets.
21 January,2026 02:27 AM IST | Vadodara | PTIADVERTISEMENT
