Team news, likely XIs, form guide, players to watch, odds, TV and streaming information, weather forecast, umpire appointments and everything else you need to know
India take on New Zealand in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.
The game is scheduled for 6pm local time (2pm BST) on Sunday, October 31, 2021.
The game will be held at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai.
Dubai International Cricket Stadium: Ground guide
We're into the final fortnight of the competition and yet this is just the second outing for both India and New Zealand, who have barely been seen in the United Arab Emirates.
Both sides made inauspicious starts to the competition in defeat to Pakistan. India were thrashed in Dubai, the scene of this match, losing by 10 wickets after failing to defend 151.
The Kiwis were slightly more competitive against the 2009 champions, but Asif Ali produced a match-winning 27 from a dozen deliveries to secure victory.
Pakistan's 100 per cent record means it is looking increasingly like a three-way battle for the other semi-final spot. Both sides have Afghanistan, Scotland, and Namibia to come and will feel confident that victory here will act as a springboard towards the last four.
It is India who are the favourites to prevail with Dafabet who are offering odds of 4/11 for Virat Kohli's men to get the win.
New Zealand are well-fancied in this competition and can be backed at 2/1.
If you're confident that KL Rahul will be 2007 champions' top run-scorer, he is available at 13/5.
Black Caps opener Martin Guptill is meanwhile 3/1 to lead the way for Kane Willamson's side.
"If you want controversy please tell me before so I can answer accordingly."
Virat Kohli's response to a question regarding Rohit Sharma's place in the T20 side may have gone viral, but given the resources at India's disposal, it was a perfectly reasonable inquiry.
The problem with having ample resources, in this case the enigmatic Ishan Kishan is waiting in the wings, is pressure to make changes will always be there.
Sharma is hardly in the midst of a slump, but neither can he afford to allow his standards to slip. He averaged 21.83 in the second half of the IPL and made 60 in the warm-up match against Australia, but his nought in defeat to Pakistan is a concern.
Facing legspin has historically been Sharma's primary area of weakness. Todd Astle, No.508 in the men's T20 Player Index, is the only leggie in the New Zealand squad but his lack of experience at this level would make his selection a slight gamble.
That said, his only outing since 2019 came against Bangladesh in Auckland and produced figures of 4 for 13.
Having backed Sharma and Mohammed Shami amid a period of rough form, it seems unlikely that Kohli will ring the changes after just one match. Indeed, it would be a surprise not to see the same XI.
New Zealand may follow suit but without the express pace of Lockie Ferguson they could look to the squad replacement Adam Milne.
The following umpires and match referees have been named by the ICC to officiate in the T20 World Cup 2021:
Referees: David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Ranjan Madugalle, Javagal Srinath
Umpires: Chris Brown, Aleem Dar, Kumar Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Michael Gough, Adrian Holdstock, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nitin Menon, Ahsan Raza, Paul Reiffel, Langton Rusere, Rod Tucker, Joel Wilson, Paul Wilson
The following officials have been allocated to this fixture:
On-field umpires: Kettleborough, Gough
TV umpire: Holdstock
Fourth umpire: Erasmus
Referee: Madugalle
Full T20 World Cup officials appointments: Click here
Another warm day is scheduled in Dubai, with temperatures in the early evening still around 31 degrees Celsius.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, though Covid protocols including the wearing of face masks will be in place.
Click here to visit the ICC's ticketing site.
New Zealand have got the better of India in their recent high-profile clashes and that trend could well continue. Victory for Williamson.
T20 WORLD CUP TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports Cricket (Sky 404, Talk Talk 404, BT TV 423, Virgin 504) will broadcast the series in the United Kingdom, with the content available online via its streaming platform Sky Go.
BBC Radio Five Live Sports Extra will have live ball-by-ball radio commentary of all tournament matches, accessible through the BBC Sport website, BBC Sounds or DAB radio.
The Star Sports network is showing the tournament in India. Matches can be streamed via Disney+ Hotstar
Other broadcasters by territory:
Australia - Fox Sports, Channel 9, Kayo Sports
New Zealand – Sky Sport New Zealand
Pakistan - PTV Sports, Ten Sports
Bangladesh - Ghazi Tv (GTV)
Sri Lanka – SLRC (Channel Eye)
South Africa – SuperSport
Caribbean – ESPN
Middle East and North Africa – eLife TV, StarzPlay, Switch TV
USA – ESPN+
Singapore - Star Cricket, Star Hub and Singtel
Malaysia - Fox International Channels
Hong Kong - Star Cricket
India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson (injured, replaced by Adam Milne on October 26), Martin Guptill, Kyle Jamieson, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Tim Seifert, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult
T20 World Cup Hub: News, features, stats, live scores
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Posted by Mukesh -kumar on 31/10/2021 at 11:56
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Posted by Vignesh on 31/10/2021 at 11:25
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