IND vs NZ 1st T20I 2026: Pitch Report, Head-to-Head And Playing 11

IND vs NZ 1st T20I: The first match of the five-match T20I series between India and New Zealand will be played in Nagpur. After losing the ODI series to New Zealand, Team India will now focus on winning the T20I series. This will be the last test for the Indian team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, and the New Zealand team, led by Mitchell Santner, before the T20 World Cup 2026, and both teams will be looking to pass it with flying colors.

India and New Zealand have faced each other 25 times in T20Is, with Team India winning 12 matches and New Zealand winning 10. Three matches ended in a tie. The first T20I match between the two teams was played on September 16, 2007, in Johannesburg, where the Kiwi team won by 10 runs. The last T20I match between the two teams was played on February 1, 2023, in Ahmedabad, where Team India won by 168 runs.

Thus, statistically, India has the upper hand over New Zealand in T20Is. So, before the match, let's find out what the pitch at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur will be like for the first T20I between India and New Zealand.

What will be the impact of the Nagpur pitch?

The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium is all set to host the first T20I match between IND vs NZ, which will be played at its international stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur on January 21, 2026. This will be the first bilateral T20 match between India and New Zealand. The last T20 match between India and New Zealand in Jamtha was played during the ICC T20 World Cup in 2016.

The pitch at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA Stadium pitch report) in Nagpur is generally considered suitable for spin bowlers. The evenly bouncy pitch here offers good bounce initially, which helps the batsmen score runs. As the game progresses, the pitch becomes more conducive to spinners. Teams that score well in the middle overs benefit from this, but this pitch has also been observed to be slow in T20s.

What do the statistics say?

A total of 13 T20I matches have been played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, with India winning three out of five matches and losing two. New Zealand's only win at this ground came in 2016. This match was a Group 2 match of the Super 10 stage of the 2016 World Cup, in which the Kiwi team defeated India by 47 runs. Mitchell Santner was awarded the Player of the Match award for his figures of 4 wickets for 11 runs in his four overs.

IND vs NZ 1st T20I: India and New Zealand Squads -

India - Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (for the first three T20s), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (Vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Ravi Bishnoi

New Zealand - Mitchell Santner (Captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (Wicketkeeper), Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevan Jacobs, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi

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