Upbeat India look to make it two in two against wary New Zealand
After a strong start to the series, India are all set to square off with New Zealand for the second T20I at the same venue. The Men in Blue had challenges with their bowling on a flat track, which is exactly what they will be eager to work on.
With Ishan Kishan injured, India might look to bring Vaibhav Sooryavanshi into the XI as hinted by batting coach, Sitanshu Kotak in the post-match presser after the first game. However, his batting position remains a question mark as India might not want to change their opening combination of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, which has been in phenomenal form.
New Zealand, on the contrary, will be looking to get their bowling in shape that leaked a massive target against the Men in Blue. However, with their batters being in form, one would expect another cracker to be played between these two powerhouses.
Venue Watch:
The first game witnessed batters flying off the shelves. It was flat and batters got true bounce to work with. If there is a standard surface rotation, that might throw in a new shade for the batters to fathom but there won’t be much movement for the bowlers. Despite the weather being cold, there wasn’t any breeze in the series opener and that won’t change in the second game as well, making it ideal for batting. The onset of dew will allow batters to go harder after the bowlers in the second innings.
Match details:
Match: India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I
Venue: Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Date: 24th October, 2026
Time: 12:30 PM IST
Head-to-head:
Matches played – 32
India – 18
New Zealand - 11
Squads:
India:
Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand:
Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner
