Jet-lagged India open New Zealand T20I series without Bumrah and Hardik

India begin their long New Zealand tour on Thursday with the first of five T20Is at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. The match starts at 12:30 pm IST, which is 8 pm local time. There is almost no time to adjust. The team landed after a long journey, had one training session, and now face a strong home side.

The schedule explains the fatigue. India won Asian Games gold in Japan, finishing on October 3. They then played the West Indies at home from October 6, and the series ended 2-2 after the Bengaluru decider was washed out on October 17. Now they are on the other side of the world, about seven and a half hours ahead of home time. Shreyas Iyer, in charge of this T20I side, will have to manage energy as well as tactics.

Two big names are missing. Jasprit Bumrah has been rested with the Test series in mind. Hardik Pandya has not played international cricket since the T20 World Cup final in Ahmedabad in March. In that final India made 255 and beat New Zealand to retain the title at home. This series is the first T20I meeting between the two teams since that night.

The main selection question is how to balance the XI. At home India have leaned on spin-bowling allrounders such as Axar Patel and Naman Dhir to share about eight overs. That plan may not work as well outside Asia. The likely change is to leave out Dhir, who hit 24 off 6 balls in his last match. Nitish Kumar Reddy and Shivam Dube would then both play as seam-bowling options.

The probable top order is Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, followed by Iyer and Tilak Varma. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in the squad and expected to play. He is likely to share the new ball with Arshdeep Singh, and early-season pitches and a chilly evening could help seamers. The New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has said Bhuvneshwar will enjoy the conditions. Varun Chakravarthy is fit again and competes with Prince Yadav for the last bowling place.

New Zealand are close to full strength for the first time since that Ahmedabad final. They won their most recent Test and ODI series in India, so they will not lack confidence. Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra are injured. That probably leaves a top-three place for Devon Conway alongside Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Allen is playing a home T20 for the first time since March 2025. His record in New Zealand is a strike rate of 184.21. The pace attack is deep, with Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson and Blair Tickner all available.

Scoring is likely to be lower than in India. The last eight T20Is in New Zealand have not produced a single total of 200. Wind, drop-in pitches and unusual ground shapes add to the challenge. Dew may also encourage captains to chase.

History still favours the visitors. India have won their last two bilateral T20I series in New Zealand, and they have won most of their recent T20I meetings with the Black Caps. Even so, a team that has just drawn at home with the West Indies cannot take this lightly.

The T20Is are only the start of a long tour. After five matches across Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton, which end on November 1, come five ODIs and two Tests. A strong start in Christchurch would settle nerves and let India tackle the later formats with momentum.