New Zealand vs India 2019: 3 players to watch out for in the T20I series

With the conclusion of the five-match ODI series, India and New Zealand will be looking forward to winning the T20I series. Indian team outplayed New Zealand in the ODI series and will surely want to continue their momentum in the T20I series as well. India have rested Virat Kohli for the T20I series and hence Rohit Sharma will lead the team in the series.

On the other hand, New Zealand will surely want to do well in T20I series after a humiliating series defeat in ODIs. The three-match T20I series will be played from 6th to 10th of February. It is expected to be a competitive series as both the teams are looking good on paper.

Here, we will take a look at three players to watch out for in the T20I series between New Zealand and India.

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#3 Colin Munro

The destructive left-hand batsman, Colin Munro is currently one of the best batsmen in the shortest format of the game. Munro failed badly in the ODI series but will surely want to get back in form in his favourite format.

So far, the 31-year-old has played a total of 49 T20 internationals and has scored 1293 runs at an average of 33.15 and an excellent strike rate of 161.82 with the help of eight fifties and three hundreds. In fact, he was the first batsman to hit three centuries in T20Is. Colin Munro has played four T20Is against India and has scored 130 runs at an average of 43.33 and strike rate of 166.67. One of his three centuries has come against India.

Colin Munro could be dangerous for the Indian team as he is someone who can change the course of the match single handedly. It will be worth watching Colin Munro in his favorite format.

#2 Mahendra Singh Dhoni

MS Dhoni will be making his comeback in the T20I series

One of the best finishers of limited-overs cricket, MS Dhoni will be making his T20I comeback in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand. So far, 2019 has been a quite good year for MSD as he has been in good form in ODIs. He will surely want to continue his form in T20Is as well.

So far, the veteran has played a total of 93 T20 internationals in his career and has scored 1487 runs at an average of 37.17 and strike rate of 127.09 from 80 innings while batting. MSD has played eight T20Is against the Kiwis and has scored 162 runs at an average of 40.50.

MS Dhoni could be threatening for New Zealand as he is someone who has the ability to win matches single-handedly for his team. It will be interesting to see at which position MS Dhoni will bat and how he will perform in his comeback T20I series.

#1 Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the series

Rohit Sharma underperformed by his standards in the ODI series against New Zealand. So he will be very desperate to perform in the T20I series. In the absence of Virat Kohli, Hitman will lead the Indian team in the T20I series. He is one of the best limited-overs batsmen at the moment. In recent times, his performance has been quite impressive in the shortest form of the game.

Rohit has played a total 90 T20Is till date and has scored 2237 runs at an average of 32.89 and strike rate of 138.17. He has scored 15 fifties and four hundred in his T20I career. He has the most number of centuries to his name in the shortest format of the game.

His performance against New Zealand in T20Is is not impressive at all as he has scored just 109 runs at a modest average of 21.80 and strike rate of 126.74 from six matches. So he will surely want to improve his numbers against the Kiwis in the series.