India vs New Zealand Live Cricket Score, 1st T20: Suryakumar’s form, Ishan Kishan’s return in spotlight

IND vs NZ 1st T20 Live Cricket Score: India captain Suryakumar Yadav said that Ishan Kishan will be playing at No.3 with Tilak Varma injured. (PTI Photo)

India vs New Zealand 1st T20 Live Cricket Score Updates: India take on New Zealand at the Vidharbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur today in the first of their five-match T20I series with one eye on the upcoming T20 World Cup. The series against New Zealand will be the Men in Blue’s last series before they are required to defend their T20 World Cup title.

While India come into the series with the form guide favoruing them — they have won every single bilateral series they have played in the shortest format, winning 28 matches and losing just five in that period — there is plenty of intrigue around the Indian squad, particularly around the form of captain Suryakumar Yadav and the inclusion of ishan Kishan after his heroics in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Jharkhand. Ishan will bat at no 3 in the first game, captain Yadav has already confirmed.

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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

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India vs New Zealand, 1st T20I: Ishan Kishan’s return after a long period in wilderness adds intrigue with World Cup round the corner

With the recent injury to Tilak Varma, skipper Suryakumar Yadav confirmed that Kishan will play his first match in India colours since November 2023 on Wednesday. (AP)

For Ishan Kishan, the start of 2024 began a two-year period when he was firmly out of the scheme of things for India, a sudden reversal for the country’s highly-rated wicketkeeper-batter who was considered to have an unsatisfactory attitude and mindset in the murky aftermath of his request for a mental fatigue-induced break.

The same Kishan starts 2026 with a resounding return to the national team on Wednesday, when he will feature in the first of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand. He does so by fortuitously riding the changing tides of Indian cricket. Proclamations can be fickle; especially considering a team in transition. (READ MORE)