Tim Southee to lead Kiwis in the first T20I against India

Well, the International schedule is once again under the scanner as the runners up of the World T20 Series will take the field after just three days of the final. That too in a completely different nation amidst the Covid environment. Nevertheless, New Zealand is a team who’s never going to complain. They are all set for the upcoming series against India and according to the report; Tim Southee will be leading the side in the first match as Kane Williamsom has opted out from the T20I series to focus on the test series.

India on the other hand is all set to start their new era in T20 Cricket. Rahul Dravid, India’s newly appointed coach has reached Jaipur a couple of days ago and the Indian team are preparing themselves for the important series. Yes, it is important. Rahul Dravid needs to get a good start to his coaching journey and most importantly, after India’s early exit from the tournament, they need to make a comeback and show that they still belong to the game. Beating New Zealand is thus very key. Another thing is that the newly appointed captain, Rohit Sharma needs to prove himself as captain. There was a lot of hubbub in the past few years and this was the perfect time for him to step up his game.

New Zealand team announced for the first match – Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Gleen Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifart (wk), Ish Sodhi,Tim Southee (c)