Before the 2026 T20 World Cup, the Indian team has a golden opportunity to improve its preparations. But he faces a tough challenge from New Zealand, who recently defeated India at home in the ODI series. A total of 5 matches will be played in the India vs New Zealand T20 series. This series will start from 21st January and continue till 31st January.

Tilak Verma, who has emerged as the most reliable batsman of the Indian T20 team in recent times, will not play the first match, because due to injury he has not been selected in the Indian squad for the first three T20 matches. Captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that in the absence of Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan will bat at number 3. First of all, know where you can watch the first T20 match between India and New Zealand on TV and mobile?

When and where will the first T20 match be played?

India vs New Zealand 1st T20 match will be played on Wednesday, January 21 at VCA Stadium, Nagpur.

On which channel and app will the match come live?

The first T20 match of both the teams will start at 7 pm Indian time. TV viewers will be able to watch live matches on Star Sports Network. Live streaming of the match will be available on JioHotstar app and website.

How will you be able to watch the match for free?

The match between India and New Zealand will be live streamed on JioHotstar. Actually, JioHotstar subscription is available free in some mobile recharge plans of Jio. For example, JioHotstar subscription is available free in recharge of Rs 349 and Rs 399.

India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper) and Ravi Bishnoi.

New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Jack Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevan Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi, Christian Clarke.

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IND vs NZ: Team India’s playing eleven confirmed for the first T20! Shreyas Iyer will not get the place of Tilak Verma

India Playing XI 1st T20: India vs New Zealand 1st T20 match will be played on Wednesday, January 21 at VCA Stadium, Nagpur. Before that, captain Suryakumar Yadav has given a big update on the playing eleven of Team India. Actually, Tilak Verma will not be playing this T20 match due to injury, hence number-3 is vacant. Suryakumar’s statement indicated that Shreyas Iyer could be considered for batting at number 5.

Tilak Verma had to undergo abdominal surgery, due to which he was ruled out of the first 3 matches of the T20 series against New Zealand. In his place, Shreyas Iyer got a place in the Indian squad for the first three matches.

Who will get the place of Tilak Verma?

In the press conference held before the first T20 match, captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “Ishan Kishan will bat at number 3 because he is a part of our T20 World Cup team. He was selected first in the squad, so it is our responsibility to give him the first chance. Ishan is a part of the World Cup team, so he deserves to get a chance before Shreyas.

Captain Suryakumar said that if we were talking about fourth and fifth order batsman, then perhaps other names (Shreyas Iyer) could have been considered, but in the absence of Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan seems to be the best option for number-3.

Suryakumar Yadav himself has been quite successful at the third position in T20 matches. On the question of batting at number 3 himself, Surya said that he wants to keep himself ready for any order in batting.

Indian squad for New Zealand T20 series: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper) and Ravi Bishnoi.

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New Zealand has increased the concern of the Indian cricket team. New Zealand created history under the captaincy of Michael Bracewell, as the Kiwi team defeated Team India for the first time in an ODI series in India. Now it is the turn of the five-match T20 series, which will be played from January 21-January 31. You may find it shocking that within just 3 days, 11 players have been dropped from Team India.

11 players out from Team India

This matter is related to India vs New Zealand ODI series. In fact, out of all the players included in the Indian squad for the ODI series, 11 players will not play in the T20 series. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s names are also among these 11 players. Rohit and Virat have retired from T20 format, hence will not play in T20 matches against New Zealand.

Shubman Gill will also not play in this T20 series, because the selection committee has left him out of the T20 World Cup plans. Gill is also not a part of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup. Whereas both wicketkeepers KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel, who were included in the ODI squad, are out of the T20 team. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have been included in Team India for the T20 series.

Players playing in the ODI series, who will not play in the T20 series, their names are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Ayush Badoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj.

India-New Zealand T20 series schedule

The T20 series between India and New Zealand will be played from January 21-January 31. This will be the last series of both the teams before the T20 World Cup 2026.

First T20 match – 21 January (Nagpur)

Second T20 match – 23 January (Raipur)

Third T20 match – 25 January (Guwahati)

Fourth T20 match – 28 January (Visakhapatnam)

Fifth T20 match – 31 January (Thiruvananthapuram)

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India vs New Zealand 1st T20 Match: India vs New Zealand T20 series will start from January 21, the first match will be played at VCA Stadium, Nagpur. Before the start of the series, New Zealand T20 captain Mitchell Santner has warned Team India. He also expressed hope that Daryl Mitchell, who scored 352 runs in the ODI series, will thrash the Indian bowlers in the T20 series as well.

Will thrash Indian bowlers…

In the press conference before the India vs New Zealand first T20 match, Mitchell Santner said, “In the beginning, Daryl Mitchell had trouble against spin, but he worked very hard, the results of which you all have seen. He is playing spin well. He can play controlled innings in the middle overs in ODI matches. Hopefully, he will be able to do something similar in the T20 series.”

Santner said that the New Zealand team loves playing in India and this will be a very important series to adapt to the conditions of the sub-continent. Let us tell you that the India-New Zealand T20 series will end on 31 January, a week after which the T20 World Cup 2026 will start on 7 February.

Warning to Team India

Mitchell Santner warned the Indian team and said, “We have had success against India in different formats. Obviously our biggest goal is to win the series and also to improve the preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026. It would be good to play against a tough team like India in the same conditions, where we also have to play the World Cup soon.”

Till date, only one T20 match has been played between India and New Zealand at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. In that match played in 2016, New Zealand had defended the small target of 127 runs by destroying the Indian batting line-up. In that match, Santner took 4 wickets for just 11 runs in 4 overs.

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