IND vs NZ 2021: 7 interesting stats from the 1st India-New Zealand T20I

Following their disappointing T20 World Cup 2021 campaign, India embarked on a new era. They beat New Zealand in Jaipur in the first T20I of the three-match bilateral series.

It marked the first association of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid as India's T20I captain and head coach respectively.

Electing to bowl against the T20 World Cup runners-up, India restricted the Tim Southee-led Kiwis to 164. But in what seemed like a comfortable chase, India suffered some late hiccups before eventually getting home with two balls to spare.

Here are seven interesting stats from the India-New Zealand 1st T20I.

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#1 Jaipur’s first T20I game and Ashwin’s first in India in over five years

This was the first T20I played in Jaipur. Also, it was Ravichandran Ashwin’s first T20I appearance on home soil in over five-and-a-half years.

Ashwin's last T20I in India was the semi-final of the 2016 T20 World Cup against West Indies. That was when he bowled the infamous no-ball that denied him the wicket of Lendl Simmons, which changed the fate of the match.

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#2 Mark Chapman’s unique first

Mark Chapman became the first cricketer to register two 50-plus T20I scores for two countries.

Six years apart, in the same month, he scored two identical scores. Incidentally, these are the only T20I fifties of Chapman's career.

• - 63* off 41 balls for Hong Kong vs Oman in November 2015
• - 63 off 50 balls for New Zealand vs India in November 2021

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#3 The prolific KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma

In the last four innings, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have aggregated 346 runs at an average of 86.5. With 12 partnerships over fifty, they now have the most 50-plus stands for India in T20Is.

The partnership of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul has gone past the tally of Sharma himself with Shikhar Dhawan

• - Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan: Innings 52 | Runs 1,743 | Ave 33.5 | HS 160 | 50+ 11
• - Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul: Innings 26 | Runs 1,418 | Ave 56.7 | HS 165 | 50+ 12

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma are now fourth on the list of the most runs by a pair in T20Is after Shikhar Dhawan-Rohit Sharma, Kevin O’Brien-Paul Stirling and Kyle Coetzer-George Munsey.

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#4 India’s run-chases in home T20Is

The odds were stacked in India's favor the moment they won the toss and elected to bowl. India have now won 17 of their 21 matches while chasing at home. This is now the joint-most wins while chasing on home soil, alongside New Zealand and South Africa.

Highest successful win-loss ratio at home while chasing (minimum 10 matches)

• India: M 21 | W 17 | W/L 4.25
• Pakistan: M 12 | W 9 | W/L 3
• Australia: M 20 | W 13 | W/L 2.17

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#5 Tim Southee goes past Lasith Malinga

Tim Southee went past Lasith Malinga’s tally of 107 wickets to become the most successful pacer in T20Is.

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#6 Rishabh Pant joins MS Dhoni

Rishabh Pant finished the match for India with a boundary with two balls to spare. With that, he also became the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter since MS Dhoni to register 1000-plus international runs in a calendar year. Dhoni managed the feat 11 different times in his career

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#7 India-New Zealand head-to-head

India have now won nine (including tie-breakers) of their 19 T20Is against New Zealand.

India's loss at the hands of the Kiwis in a crucial T20 World Cup match in Dubai last month became the reason for their early exit from the tournament.

Although India have lost all three of their T20 World Cup matches against New Zealand, outside the mega event they have won eight times against New Zealand's seven, with one match being abandoned.