India vs New Zealand, T20I series Stats Preview: Player records and approaching milestones

A new era is set to get underway in Indian cricket as Rohit Sharma replaces Virat Kohli as India’s T20I captain. Also, Rahul Dravid is the new head coach, having taken over from Ravi Shastri following the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2021. The duo’s first assignment in full-time roles would be a three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting from November 17.

The Men in Blue will have a point to prove in the series as they endured a horrendous campaign in the recently-concluded gala event. They got knocked out of the league and faced backlash from different quarters. However, it would be interesting to see how this series pans out. As far as New Zealand are concerned, they played some quality cricket and made it to the finals of the competition.

However, they suffered an eight-wicket defeat against Trans-Tasman rivals Australia in the summit clash. Nevertheless, they thrashed India by eight wickets during the course of the tournament and won’t mind replicating their heroics again. Notably, the next T20 World Cup is less than a year away. Hence, both sides would be raring to form a formidable squad sooner than later.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers ahead of the three-match T20I series between India and New Zealand:

Head to head: New Zealand are a tad ahead of India in terms of head-to-head record in T20Is. Both sides have played 18 T20Is against each other so far. While the Kiwis won on nine occasions, eight matches landed in India’s favour. One of their encounters got abandoned.

3 – Rohit Sharma needs three hits over the fence to become the third player to complete 450 sixes in international cricket.

10 – Rohit also needs 10 sixes to become the second batter after Martin Guptill to smash 150 sixes in T20Is.

1 – Ishan Kishan is one grab away from completing 50 catches in T20 cricket.

249 – KL Rahul needs 249 runs to become the third Indian batter after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to complete 2000 T20I runs.

19 – Rishabh Pant is 19 hits away from completing 100 sixes in international cricket.

5 – Venkatesh Iyer is five sixes away from completing 50 sixes in T20 cricket.

4 – Yuzvendra Chahal needs four wickets to go past Jasprit Bumrah’s tally of 66 scalps and become India’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is.

8 – Chahal is also eight wickets shy of completing 250 wickets in T20 cricket.

8 – Axar Patel can complete 150 wickets in T20 cricket. He’s eight scalps away from the landmark.

22 – Tim Seifert needs 22 runs to complete 2,500 runs in T20 cricket.

1 – Mitchell Santner can complete 50 sixes in T20 cricket. He needs one hit over the fence to get the milestone.

1394 – Glenn Phillips has scored 1394 T20 runs this year, third-most by any player in 2021.

81 – Martin Guptill needs 81 runs to go past Virat Kohli’s tally of 3227 runs and become the highest run-scorer in T20Is.

126 – Kane Williamson needs 126 runs to surpass Aaron Finch’s tally of 1724 runs and become batter with most runs in T20Is as captain.

11 – Tim Southee needs 11 wickets to go past Shakib Al Hasan’s tally of 117 scalps and become the highest wicket-taker in T20Is.