India's destructive all-rounder Hardik Pandya has joined the Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I squad ahead of the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to start from January 21. Hardik, who missed the recently concluded three-match ODI series against the BlackCaps to manage his workload, will be seen in action in the T20I series.
Notably, the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand will be India's last assignment before the T20 World Cup, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka. Ahead of the T20I series opener, the BCCI shared a fun video from India’s training session that quickly grabbed attention online.
Hardik Pandya's clip
In the video, Hardik can be seen asking people sitting in the stands to move aside as he prepared to go for a big shot. Watching closely, Gautam Gambhir joked, “Tum kaha aim kar rahe ho? North Wing?” (Where are you aiming?).
Hardik replied, “On the first tier.”
The light-hearted exchange didn’t stop there. After Hardik smashed a massive six, captain Suryakumar Yadav reacted in surprise, saying, “Abbey second tier pe maar diya?” (He hit it all the way to the second tier?).
India vs New Zealand T20I schedule
| Match No. | Date | Match | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I | Jan 21 | IND vs NZ | Nagpur | 7:00 PM |
| 2nd T20I | Jan 23 | IND vs NZ | Raipur | 7:00 PM |
| 3rd T20I | Jan 25 | IND vs NZ | Guwahati | 7:00 PM |
| 4th T20I | Jan 28 | IND vs NZ | Visakhapatnam | 7:00 PM |
India vs New Zealand T20I squad
India’s T20I squad for New Zealand series: Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shreyas Iyer (first three T20Is), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (vice-capt), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravi Bishnoi.
New Zealand T20I Squad vs India: Mitchell Santner (c), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Ish Sodhi, Kristian Clarke.