IND vs NZ 1st T20I: Team India are all set to take on Mitchell Santner's New Zealand team starting January 27, 2023. The first T20I will be played in Ranchi and will mark the start of the three-match T20I series. Before this, India played an ODI series against New Zealand and defeated them by a margin of 3-0. Hardik Pandya will lead India's charge with all the big boys such as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rohit Sharma resting.
The Indian team has started to prepare for the next edition of the T20 World Cup that will be played in 2024 and it is almost certain that the men in blue will be without their marquee players such as Kohli and Sharma. India have three young openers at their disposal, Prithvi Shaw, Ishan Kishan, and Shubman Gill. Ahead of the match, Hardik Pandya on Thursday said that Shubman Gill will open for India instead of Prithvi Shaw. Interestingly, Shaw was Gill's captain in the 2018 edition of the U-19 men's ODI World Cup. Prithvi Shaw has returned to the Indian set-up after a long haul of 550 days, but he will have to wait for his turn. The Board of Control for Cricket in India posted a video in which Prithvi Shaw opens up on his approach and how he feels about his comeback. Shaw also met former India captain MS Dhoni ahead of the match.
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Prithvi Shaw said:
It has been a long time that I wasn't a part of the setup. So, I am happy to be back. When the team was announced, it was pretty late in the night. I saw loads of calls and messages on my phone but I couldn't realize what happened. Then I saw that I had been picked up. These 18 months have been pretty tough on me, but the people who have supported me throughout, the credit goes to them. I like to stay in the present and don't think too far ahead. The first thing will always be to try and make India win.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
India Squad: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jitesh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Prithvi Shaw
