5 Reasons why New Zealand might defeat India in the T20I series

When India entered New Zealand to play a 5-match ODI series, a lot of cricket fans predicted the Kiwis side to give the Indian team a run for their money. But, the home side were totally dominated by Virat Kohli's men till the third and the series ending ODI.

However, the home side made a stunning comeback in the 4th ODI as Trent Boult and co. demolished the Indian batting order for just 92 runs inside 31 overs. The New Zealand team would have regained some much-needed confidence with this performance heading into the upcoming T20I series.

Apart from the new momentum that they have got, there are 5 other big reasons why New Zealand will prevail in the T20I series.

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#5 Presence of multiple T20 match-winners in the New Zealand squad

New Zealand has the most destructive opening pair in T20s

If we look at the current New Zealand squad, there are a lot of big hitters who are well suited for the T20 format rather than the 50 over format. Players like Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner and Ross Taylor are better T20 players than the way they perform in the ODIs.

With the ground sizes in New Zealand quite small, expect all the big hitters to come to the party and pile up mountains of runs on the board against the Indian team. Also, none of the above-mentioned players performed to their talent in the one day series and thus, they will be in a mood to make an emphatic return to form in the T20I series.

New Zealand will also have Doug Bracewell and Ish Sodhi, proven T20 match-winners in their squad for the T20I series.

#4 The Indian bowling attack will not have Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami

Bhuvneshwar Kumar will have to shoulder the responsibility of the Indian bowling department

Jasprit Bumrah, India's best death bowler was rested from the New Zealand tour because of his hectic international schedule. In his absence, right arm pacer Mohammad Shami stepped up his game and emerged as a threat for the New Zealand batsmen. Shami had a wonderful ODI series as he had picked 7 wickets in the first 3 matches of the ODI series. His bowling performances played a vital role in India's wins.

However, Shami will not feature in the T20I series because young pacers like Siddharth Kaul, Mohammad Siraj and Khaleel Ahmed have been selected in the Indian squad for the T20 series. This will put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who will be spearheading the inexperienced Indian bowling attack.

#3 Presence of unknown commodities in the New Zealand squad

There are a lot of players in the NZ squad, the Indian players

has

never played against

The New Zealand T20I squad has a lot of new players, who did not feature in the ODI series. Looking at their squad, the wicket-keeper Tim Seifert will be playing against the Indian team for the first time in his career. Also, all-rounder Scott Kuggeleijn has only played a single T20 international thus far. Apart from them, Blair Tickner and Daryl Mitchell have received the national call-up for the first time.

These players did not feature in the ODI series, which means they will put fresh blood in the NZ team in the T20I series. Some of these players had performed really well in the domestic T20 competition of New Zealand and thus, are coming into the series with good form. It will be interesting to see how the Indian team plans for these players and how these new players perform in the series.

#2 India's middle order troubles

MS Dhoni has performed well in the ODIs but a swifter batting performance will be needed from him in the T20 matches

India's middle order has been one of their major weaknesses in the T20I format. The team has tried a lot of batsmen in the middle order but none of them have been able to perform well in the shortest format of the game.

For the T20I series against New Zealand, India has the likes of MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill as their middle order batsman.

MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant are the only two players who have shown promise with the bat in the recent past. Apart from them, Hardik Pandya has turned into almost a bowling all-rounder, Krunal Pandya and Shubman Gill recently made their debuts in international cricket while Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik's form with the bat has been inconsistent.

#1 India will be playing without Virat Kohli, the batsman

New Zealand v India - ODI Game 3

While a lot of fans may argue that Rohit Sharma is a better captain than Virat Kohli in T20Is. The answer to that question is unknown but team India seriously is not the same without Virat Kohli, the batsman. The Indian innings in the 4th ODI is the best example of how weak the Indian batting line-up becomes without Virat Kohli.

Kohli has been rested for the upcoming 3-match T20I series and this will definitely increase New Zealand's chances of winning the T20I series. India may not miss Virat Kohli, the captain in the series but the team will undoubtedly be not same without Virat Kohli, the batsman. The Delhite has won a lot of matches for his team in the T20I format. His chasing skills are unmatched and so, he will be dearly missed in the T20I series.