World No. 1 rank, achieved! Cleansweep, completed! Rohit Sharma’s 30th century, oh yes we loved that! It has been an eventful week of cricket since New Zealand stepped on our shores, and that action moves to the next chapter, with Hardik Pandya taking over the captain’s armband in the shortest format.

Surely no Indian fan would be worried about a T20I bilateral series with Suryakumar Yadav, the newly minted ICC T20I Cricketer of the Year, on our side. Mind you, he’s even gotten a century against them. In the form he is in, having established it to the world that ‘SKY’ is his limit, there would be no surprise at all if he gets his fourth.

Prithvi Shaw returns to the Indian team and the likes of Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar and Jitesh Sharma have been retained from the Sri Lanka series. Kuldeep Yadav is back as well, and might play his first T20I in nearly six months.

For the Kiwis, Mitchell Santner takes over as captain. Their batting department comprises of some explosive cricketers like Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell, who will not make it easy for our bowling attack. Oh it will be fun.

What: India vs New Zealand, three-match T20I series

When: January 27, January 29, February 1

Where: Ranchi (first T20I), Lucknow (second T20I) and Ahmedabad (third T20I)

What they said:

"I'm so accustomed to bowling with the old ball, I don't feel like I need to practise a lot. That is why I always used to pick up the new ball (in the nets) and make sure whenever the opportunity comes and my team requires me to do that job" - Hardik Pandya, about taking the new ball.

What to expect: In ODIs, we have been scoring 350+ totals for fun lately and our track record in T20Is has been impressive post the ICC T20 World Cup. The batting line-up is filled with specialists, who will not shy away from going hard from ball one.   

What you need to do: You know the drill, Paltan. Bring in some snacks and a few drinks, sit back, relax and let our boys take over the duty of entertaining you. With the form we have shown lately, you are bound to be have plenty to cheer for.

Squads

India: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jitesh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Prithvi Shaw

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rippon, Dane Cleaver, Henry Shipley, Ben Lister