New Zealand vs India: MS Dhoni back in T20I squad against Kiwis

After the conclusion of the tour of Australia, India will continue their tour Down Under and are scheduled to play a five-match ODI series followed by a T20I series against New Zealand. The 50-overs fixtures get underway on Wednesday, January 23 following which the three T20Is will be played from February 6. Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton are the venues for the T20I series.

All the matches are day-night fixtures. In the meantime, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 15-man squad for the 20-overs series against the Black Caps. One massive development comes in the form of MS Dhoni’s inclusion. The 37-year-old experienced wicketkeeper-batsman didn’t play the T20I series against Windies and Australia in October.

Pandya also included

Apart from Dhoni, Hardik Pandya also staked his claim back into the T20I squad. Pandy developed a back injury during the Asia Cup and subsequently missed the tournament. Thereafter, the Baroda all-round cricketer missed the T20Is against the Caribbean team and then the ones against Aaron Finch and Co. The team would be captained Virat Kohli, who has been in prime form of late.

India have left out three players from the T20I side against the Aussies- Washington Sundar, Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey. The Men in Blue didn’t make an impressive start to that series and lost by four runs at the Gabba in Brisbane courtesy of the Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) Method.

The second match at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was called off due to persistent rain, which started at the fag end of the Australian innings. The 30-year Kohli scored a masterful half-century to help the visiting team draw level in the last encounter at Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Here is the squad

Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed

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