New Zealand vs India 2020: 4 milestones that could be achieved in the 5-match T20I series
India will kick-off their much-awaited tour of New Zealand with a 5-match T20I series on Jan 24. India will be feeling high after clinching an ODI series against Australia in their last assignment. Meanwhile, New Zealand will be feeling low after being thrashed Down Under in their previous assignment.
Since it is a long tour, injuries can play a vital role in deciding the winner. Shikhar Dhawan already ruled out of the T20I series, and now Ishant Sharma is likely to miss the Test series having picked up an injury in a Ranji Trophy match. On the other hand, New Zealand has lost a handful number of players (Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Seth Rance, Doug Bracewell, Adam Milne) to injury.
Despite the inavailability of several players, New Zealand can still pose a threat to the Indians with their home conditions advantage. Hence, once again a fierce, hard battle between these two teams is expected. Now, let us look at four milestones that could be achieved during the upcoming T20I series.
#1 Virat Kohli in quest of most MOM awards in T20Is
In India’s last T20I series against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli sacrificed his usual no.3 slot and batted lower down the order. Since the next edition of T20 World Cup is only a few months away, Kohli has experimented with the batting order in the last series. Hence, it will be interesting to see whether Kohli continues with his experimentation or bat at no.3 in the series.
Also see – Under 19 world cup points table
Irrespective of the batting position, we can expect Kohli to continue his excellent run of form in the NZ series. In 78 T20Is, Kohli has scored 2689 runs with 24 half-centuries at the strike rate of 138.53. Besides, Kohli currently sits with Mohammad Nabi in the list of most man-of-the-match awards in T20Is with 12 awards. Since Kohli’s hunger for runs is well known, we can expect him to fare well in the NZ series and top the list.
Note: All statistics as of January 22, 2020