India vs New Zealand, Ist ODI, Preview: Where to watch, timing, squads & more

India will face New Zealand in the first ODI at Napier on Wednesday (January 23)

Napier, January 22: Virat Kohli and his band will start their quest to conquer New Zealand on Wednesday (January 23) with the first ODI here and the five-match series will be anything but easy for them. Primarily because of the form the Kiwis are in and as displayed while thrashing Sri Lanka 3-0 recently.

Here's MyKhel takes a look at the first ODI and offers the preview.

1. Team news - India

At various stages all Indian batsmen showed good form during the ODI series against Australia. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli got a hundred each while MS Dhoni showed the old spark to notch up three fifties in as many matches, two of them were unbeaten and helped India cross the line. Kedar Jadhav, who replaced an out of gear Ambati Rayudu, made a quick fifty at Melbourne to underline his value. So, in all likelihood India will enter the first ODI with the same batting order with Dhoni coming at No 4 followed by Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik, the designated finisher for India now at No 6. The bowling could be led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami as both were impressive against Australia.

2. Team news - New Zealand

India have two set pacers at the moment in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal sealing the two spinners part while Ravindra Jadeja doing the all-rounder's job in the absence of Hardik Pandya. But they will be up against an in-form batting unit of New Zealand. Their top six batsmen - Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls and James Neesham - were among the runs in New Zealand's 3-0 whitewash of Sri Lanka. New Zealand scored 371, 319 and 364 in those three matches. However, Neesham will not be available for first three ODIs because of injury and the hosts will hope that Colin de Grandhomme will step up for Neesham. But it will be a huge challenge nevertheless for Indian bowlers.

3. Squads

New Zealand: Kane Williamson(C), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor.

India: Virat Kohli(C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Vijay Shankar, Shubman Gill.

4. Telecast

The match will be live on Star Sports Networks from 7.30 am IST. It will be streamed live on HotStar as well and you can also follow via the MyKhel live updates.