In their second match of the T20 World Cup 2021, Team India will be locking horns with New Zealand in the ongoing super-12 stage of the T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday in Dubai. This match is being considered as a virtual knockout for both the teams, as whoever wins this game will have better chances of reaching the semi-final stage.
India suffered a deoralising loss against the arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening encounter. They didn’t get the start they expected, which affected them in reaching a defendable target. There might be some changes in their eleven against the Kiwis for the men in blue.
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New Zealand, on the other hand, was in the game for the most part of the match against Pakistan, but the men in green made a comeback with the sixth-wicket partnership between Shoaib Malik and Asif Ali. Malik and Ali took the game away from the Kiwis, as they lost the match by 5 wickets. They have a 100 percent win record against India in the T20 World Cups.
India
On the eve of the game, Virat Kohli confirmed that Hardik Pandya is fit to feature in the playing XI after suffering a shoulder niggle in the game against Pakistan. The latter was seen bowling in the nets ahead of the fixture. Kohli addressed the need to have a sixth bowling option in specific situations and reckoned Hardik could bowl an over or two when his fitness levels permitted him to. Kohli brushed aside the notions of overdependence on Jasprit Bumrah, but teh latter has had some phenomenal outings against the Kiwis in the past.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand
Martin Guptill had commenced his training at full tilt after suffering a bruised toe in the game against Pakistan, after the brilliant yorker from Haris Rauf. Kiwis would like to introduce Is Sodhi early in the innings as he is the leading wicket-taker against India in this format and he has often troubled Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. New Zealand could also borrow from Pakistan’s blueprint, by unleashing a left-arm swing bowler (Trent Boult) and a left-arm spinner (Mitchell Santner) to stop the early flow of runs.
Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), James Neesham, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Trent Boult
Fantasy Suggestion #1:
Rishabh Pant, Lokesh Rahul (C), Kane Williamson (VC), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Tim Southee
Fantasy Suggestion #2:
Devon Conway, Lokesh Rahul, Kane Williamson, Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Glenn Phillips, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santnerl, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy