The first of India vs New Zealand T20Is will be played on November 17 at Jaipur’s Sawai Mansingh Cricket Stadium. The 3-match series in question will mark the beginning of Rohit Sharma’s tenure as India’s full-time T20I captain. Rahul Dravid, the newly appointed head coach of the Indian team, will also take charge as the senior men’s team coach. There’s a whole bunch of interesting developments to look forward to, so let’s preview the T20I series by analyzing the Jaipur Cricket Stadium’s pitch report and other relevant records.
India and New Zealands’ form
The Indian team would still be hurting from its disappointing performance in the recently concluded World T20. While the squad produced a couple of good performances against lesser-ranked teams like Scotland, Namibia, and Afghanistan, back-to-back defeats against Pakistan and New Zealand put a dismal end to India’s qualification hopes. So with the wounds of a bitter, 8-wicket loss still fresh, Rohit Sharma and co. will certainly have some big scores to settle.
When it comes to disappointment, India’s trans-Tasmanian rivals will have a fair bit of expertise on that subject matter themselves. Kane Williamson’s men-in-black managed to really turn things around in their WT20 journey after enduring a thumping loss against Pakistan in their season opener. The team’s highlight from the campaign came in their semi-final clash against England, where James Neesham and Mitchell Santner put up a whirlwind partnership to take the Blackcaps into their maiden WT20 final.
But an on-song Australian batting unit proved to be too strong for the Kiwis in the final hurdle, depriving the spirited team from a well-deserved World Cup title. But what followed on social media after NZ’s runners-up finish was a fun narrative on social media: that New Zealand can only beat and win against India in ICC knockout games. So clearly, the nice-guys of cricket will have a few points to prove in the India home series.
Swai Mansingh Stadium T20 records
The first T20I against New Zealand will mark the debut of the Sawai Mansingh Cricket Stadium in the shortest international format of the game. So there is an obvious absence of data pertaining to T20 international matches. There are, however, some useful snippets of data available about the ground’s Indian Premier League (IPL) statistics.
- Total Match Played: 47
- Batting First Won: 15
- Batting Second Won: 32
- Tie: 0
- Avg. Score in 1st bat: 158
- Highest Score: Rajasthan Royals 197/1, vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2008
- Lowest Score: Mumbai Indians 92/10, vs Rajasthan Royals, 2013
Weather Report during IND vs NZ match
Wednesday’s weather report for the Jaipur cricket stadium seems promising enough for us to promise fun and entertaining game of cricket for all fans assembled. The day will be sunny with a few clouds, with the average temperature being at around 26 degree Celsius. There will be slight humidity at 30%. Movement in the air will be somewhat limited, given that the predicted wind speed is 8kmph. Despite the clouds, thankfully, chances of precipitation for 17 November have been recorded to be none.
Jaipur Cricket Stadium Pitch report
As per a recent report from TOI, the groundsmen have been instructed to prepare a high-scoring wicket for the India-New Zealand game. It’s also being speculated that of all the strips available on this ground, strip number five will be used for the actual game. It will be interesting to see how batsmen from both sides adapt to the ground’s run-scoring opportunities on offer, especially with the longer-than-usual boundaries on this ground.
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The record of the ground tells that, Jaipur pitch curators create a batting-friendly wicket, where defending a total is not a cakewalk. During IPL 2019, out of 7 games, 6 times batting-second teams had won the contests. So, clearly, bowling-first team will have an upper hand here during India vs New Zealand T20 series.