This is the season of model examinations. Just as students across the country brace for their upcoming boards, India and New Zealand have their own mock tests lined up ahead of the all-important T20 World Cup.
The five-match T20I series, starting at the VCA Stadium on Wednesday, serves as the ideal dress rehearsal for Suryakumar Yadav’s Men in Blue and Mitchell Santner’s Black Caps.
With the 20-team extravaganza barely three weeks away, both sides — armed with almost full-strength squads — will want to dot their i’s and cross their t’s, much like studious students revising the chapters.
Coach Gautam Gambhir, though, will have to make some revisions to his original plan due to injuries to Tilak Varma (sidelined for the first three matches) and Washington Sundar (ruled out of the series).
India will field its strongest available XI, which means pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and talismanic all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be seen in action. Wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson, after a rather tumultuous period, will want to use these five games to solidify his spot at the top of the order.
– Sankar Narayanan E. H.
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With the 20-team extravaganza barely three weeks away, both sides — armed with almost full-strength squads — will want to dot their i’s and cross their t’s.