Why is Kuldeep Yadav not playing 1st T20I vs New Zealand in Nagpur?

India have benched star spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the first T20I against New Zealand at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. He warmed the bench in the series against South Africa as well, since Varun Chakravarthy emerged as India’s frontline spinner in the shortest format of the game. On top of that, the surface in Nagpur won’t make sense for India to play an additional spinner, especially when Axar Patel is in the playing XI and if required, Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh can rotate arms as well.

The major blow for India is the absence of Tilak Varma, who recently underwent surgery for testicular torsion. In his absence, Ishan Kishan will be batting at number three, with Sanju Samson set to return to the top of the order as he will bat alongside Abhishek Sharma. Captain Suryakumar Yadav, who is slightly struggling with his form, will be batting at four.

New Zealand opt to bowl first

New Zealand have won the toss and elected to bowl first in the first T20I. Captain Mitchell Santner noted the reason behind it, stating that a high-scoring game is expected. He revealed playing three seamers for the match.

“We are going to bowl first. Looks like a pretty good wicket and looks pretty high-scoring. Last week was pretty special. Every team knows how hard it is to come to India and won but this is a fresh series and they are a tough team in home conditions. Great start for us in terms of prep for the World Cup. Three seamers. Clarke makes his debut, Jamieson and Duffy are playing as well,” Santner said after the toss.

India’s Playing XI:

Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand Playing XI:

Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy