1st T20I: Captain SKY’s series to sort out batting woes

Key Highlights

• The Indian T20 outfit has been on autopilot mode during the last two years with an odd defeat here and there being small blemishes for a crack team made up of top quality IPL performers knowing their roles to the ‘T’.
• However, the pressure of playing at home amid expectations that India become the first ever team to defend its title will weigh heavily on Suryakumar’s mind going into the New Zealand series.
• New Zealand, in the past one year, has achieved many firsts, including a Test series whitewash and a first ever bilateral ODI series win in India.
• (PTI) But when it comes to T20Is, India under Suryakumar have been a different beast having won 18 out of 25 games, largely due to Abhishek Sharma’s blazing starts and Varun Chakravarthy’s bamboozling performances in middle overs of opposition innings.
• New Zealand have won 13 out of their 21 T20Is post the 2024 T20 World Cup.