Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson will take over the captain's role for the first time in his career as regular skipper Kane Williamson continues to recover from a knee injury, and his deputy Tom Latham has been rested for the series.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson admitted that playing the second leg of Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates helped in understanding the conditions better in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
Winners have the bragging rights but there was no such thing for Williamson who sympathised with India for paying the price for a fickle format despite consistent show.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson struck a quick-fire half-century as his team registered a comfortable six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the first T20 of the three-match series at the McLean Park here on Tuesday. Opting to bat first, Bangladesh made a slow start to their innings, losing opener Tamim Iqbal (11) and Imrul Kayes (duck) cheaply. Although Mahmudullah did provide his side with some resistance with his 52-run knock, Bangladesh were restricted to a score of 141 runs in their stipulated 20 overs.
New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson will reportedly fly home from Bangladesh following a fractured left thumb, which has left him in doubt for the home series against West Indies.
Batsman Kane Williamson has been given the opportunity to flex his captaincy credentials after being named to lead New Zealand in their one-day international and Twenty20 series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.
A modest New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has said his team was "fortunate" to be playing on similar wickets after pulling off a dramatic victory over Australia in the ICC World Twenty20 in Dharamsala on Friday.
All 12 of Rohit's Test hundreds came in the winning cause for India.
Stead said about Kane that he is a batter who rises for big occasions, calling him a "special player".
New Zealand spinners claimed three wickets in the morning session but India extended their advantage to a daunting 308 runs by lunch on the fourth day of the first Test at Kanpur's Green Park Stadium on Sunday.
'It's a very special feeling, the first time in our history we've come away with a World title,' said New Zealand skipper Kane Wiilliamson after victory over India in the WTC final on Wednesday.
A hobbling Kane Williamson guided New Zealand to 142 for five at the close of play on the third day of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hamilton, with the hosts needing another 47 runs to seal a 2-0 series sweep.
Tim Southee, once half of the most feared new-ball partnership in the game, brought down the curtain on a glittering 16-year Test career after New Zealand crushed England for a consolation win in Hamilton on Tuesday.
With less than 100 days to go to the Twenty20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson feels that cricketing powerhouse India will be amongst the favourites to lift the trophy.
The importance of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand was not lost on Dhawan
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between England and New Zealand in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Despite the glossiness of their victory over New Zealand, Indian captain Rohit Sharma was candid enough to admit that the team felt a few strands of pressure going into the World Cup semifinal in Mumbai on Wednesday.
After England collapsed from 288 for five to 302 all out, New Zealand initially struggled in reply before Williamson and Taylor took the game away from the hosts with a clinical 206-run third-wicket stand.
New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in a Test series in nearly a century of trying and will rarely have a better chance to break that drought than in two matches against a severely depleted side starting on Sunday.
Williamson's departure for 59 helped reduce New Zealand to 142 for three at the break -- 361 runs in arrears -- but a rain storm wiped out the final session and ensured the match would go into a fifth day.
IMAGES from the Day-Night Test, the first played between New Zealand and England at Auckland on Thursday
New Zealand ripped through Australia's batting line-up on a lethal wicket to leave the hosts foundering on 81 for seven in their first innings at lunch on the second day of the second Test on Saturday.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur, on Friday.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan praised the team's collective display after they claimed an emphatic 84-run victory over New Zealand.
'Gutted, the guys put in a huge effort to get this opportunity, to pretty much do all you could and still not get across the line'
India has only minor concerns, but New Zealand's troubles across batting and bowling departments are more pronounced.
Kane Williamson was the proverbial cat with nine lives on Friday as he top scored for New Zealand with 47 against a fired up Indian pace attack keen on exploiting what they could from a green and bouncy Basin Reserve pitch.
Mohammed Shami's dazzling seven wickets powered India into the World Cup 2023 final.
Prolific India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, the leading run-scorer in the ongoing Test series against England, has been nominated for ICC Men's Player of the Month Award for February alongside New Zealand's Kane Williamson and Sri Lanka's Pathum Nissanka.
Virat Kohli continues to prove why he is one of the greatest ODI batters of all time, moving up to the fourth spot with 747 rating points in the latest ICC ODI rankings.
Kane Williamson produced some brilliant placement under pressure to guide New Zealand to a five-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in their second Twenty20 international at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Tuesday.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between England and New Zealand at Lord's on Friday, June 3, 2022.
'It's just trying to understand what the best recipe is for the team you are in with the resources that you have'
The win over Ireland saw New Zealand grab the top spot with seven points and a net runrate of +2.113.
New Zealand ripped through England's top order to close in on a series-leveling victory as the hosts limped to 102 for five at lunch on the last day of the second and final Test on Tuesday.
India will aim to shed their archaic playing style for good with a 'young and fearless' bunch in the three-match T20I series against New Zealand, starting in Wellington on Friday.
Head coach Trevor Bayliss said the reason why Kane Williamson was left out of SunRisers Hyderabad's opening match against Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday was because the New Zealand captain needs a bit of extra time to regain his match fitness.
The Kiwis are scheduled to play England in two Tests in the first and second week of next month, following which they will face India in the ICC World Test Championship final from June 18-22.
New Zealand Cricket has indicated that it may not block its players from fully participating in the upcoming IPL if the knock-out phase matches of the lucrative league clash with the Test series opener in England beginning on June 2.
Williamson said it would be "some achievement" for his team to be world champions in another format but would not like the prospect to be a distraction.
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