And so the games begin! The World T20 2016 is finally upon us. What makes the World T20 2016 such a strong competition is that it has only the top 10 sides competing in the tournament. This means there’s no place for minnows such as Ireland, UAE or Afghanistan like a majority of other world cups. It’s a survival of the fittest, pure and simple.
The India versus New Zealand tomorrow is a great way to get the tournament started. India are by far the overwhelming favorites of the World T20 Cup and New Zealand are everybody’s favorite second team. Who doesn’t like the plucky Kiwis? Sure, they are without the modern great Brendon McCullum, who has retired, but they are certainly not short on fire power.
McCullum will be replaced by the big hitting Colin Munro who has the record of scoring the fastest T20 fifty by a New Zealander. He also holds the record for the most sixes in an innings in first class cricket. This is not to say that he is guaranteed to be successful – Munro does not have the greatest record in India – but he certainly shows a lot of promise even at an early stage in his career.
New Zealand’s batting will depend on three top players – Ross Taylor, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. Taylor has been a regular player in the IPL since the very start of the tournament almost 10 years ago. Guptill holds the record for the only double hundred made in a 50 overs World Cup and recently hit a 50 in T20 off only 19 balls. Williamson is the captain of the New Zealand side and considered to be one of the best young cricketers in the world.
What about the Indians? The Indians have a dream team. They have always produced quality T20 players, and the current Indian team probably has the 8 or 9 of the best T20 players ever to feature for India. They are covered in every department.
They have a solid top order, a powerful middle order and a very effective lower order when it comes to batting. In bowling, they have three or four outstanding fast-medium bowlers and in Ashwin, they have perhaps the best spinner in T20 cricket.
But what adds so much strength to the Indian side is the presence of all-rounders – Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. They are both specialist bowlers who can bat like top order batsmen in T20 cricket. Pandya has been a revelation – a fast bowling all-rounder that Indian cricket has always cried for. It’s just shocking that the Indian team had to do with the likes of Stuart Binny for so long, when they had someone like Pandya in the country.
As far as tomorrow’s team news is concerned, we don’t expect to see any changes in the Indian side that won the Asia Cup final. India have got a perfect combination and we expect them to stick to that. New Zealand will have to choose between Mitchell Santner and Nathan McCullum for the lead spinner role Santner should play as he is a far superior batsman. The third seamer’s role will be toss-up between Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne.
The Teams
India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suresh Raina, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 MS Dhoni (capt and wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashish Nehra/ Mohammed Shami
New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 Colin Munro, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Grant Elliott, 7 Luke Ronchi (wk), 8 Mitchell Santner/ Nathan McCullum, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan/ Adan Milne
Match Conditions
No rains are expected in Nagpur tomorrow – we can’t say that’s a good thing because this part of the country has been in a drought for almost three years now. The pitch is expect to be slow, low and offer a lot of help to spinners.
Watch India take on New Zealand in the World T20 Cup, tomorrow at 7:30 pm, live on Star Sports!
