Daijiworld Media Network

Nagpur, Mar 15 : New Zealand will begin life without Brendon McCullum, their charismatic skipper. In his absence, Kane Williamson, will lead a team that's packed with talented but underachieving players. The batting looks settled and the squad has as many as three spinners. Will they go with sheer pace or will they look to spin India out? If pace is their answer, Adam Milne or Mitchell McClenaghan should form a three pronged attack along with Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

Team News: India have played a settled line-up in recent times and the return of Mohammed Shami brings about a happy headache. Once India's go to bowler, Shami played his last international match for India in March 2015, during the 50-over World Cup. He was impressive in India's practice matches against West Indies and South Africa, but has he done enough to convince Dhoni that he should be starting ahead of Ashish Nehra or Hardik Pandya?

New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to bat

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: 'It is a 50-50 call (talking about the toss). Reason being the wicket looks good and as the game progresses it won't change much. We have left out Negi, Harbhajan, Rahane and I think I missed one name (smiles). You never play a game for India without pressure. That is the beauty of playing for India. I haven't played a game since 2004 for India without pressure. That is part and parcel of the game.'

Kane: 'We will have a bat. It is a dry surface and we will make first use of it and then use our spinners. We have had a few days preparation in Mumbai, hopefully we will make those adjustments with regards to the turn and get a good first innings total. It is a transition period for us and hopefully the guys will adapt.'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni(w/c), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand (Playing XI): Kane Williamson(c), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi(w), Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi

Pitch report: The pitch was used on matchday 3 in the qualifiers and it was a low-scoring game. Lots of cracks and not a lot of grass. Not a lot of bounce and Scott Styris feels that runs will be hard to come by. Expect the spinners to have a field day
Weather conditions: It rained in the afternoon but the weather has stayed clear since then. The forecast is very promising as well. All in all, it should be a cracking start to the Super 10s.

'Whenever you play around the world, you need to adapt to different conditions' - New Zealand's new captain, Kane Williamson, believes his team are well prepared for the Indian conditions.

'Our biggest strength will be to not look at it as a new tournament but to keep our momentum going' - Virat Kohli has dropped subtle hints that the talk going on about India's chances will in no way get them thinking way ahead.

Behind the scenes - A lot has been spoken about both the teams, their strengths, their weaknesses and the expectations. Will India be cowed down by all the hype? Can New Zealand stay focused and secure a major world title?

* In his last 12 T20I innings, Kohli has crossed 40 on ten occasions and he averages 87.28.
* MS Dhoni is the only player to captain a side in all the six editions of WT20s.
* MS Dhoni needs 48 more runs to reach the 1000-run landmark in T20Is. His 952 runs is the most by anyone without a single score of fifty or more in T20Is.
* Both Tim Southee and Ravi Ashwin require four wickets to reach the 50 wicket landmark in T20Is.
* From that match, India has MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh in the current squad while Ross Taylor is the only survivor for
New Zealand.

* In their only meeting in WT20s, New Zealand beat India by 10 runs at Johannesburg in 2007. That was the only match India lost in that tournament en route their way to the trophy win.
* New Zealand and India have met each other only once during the last seven years in T20Is with New Zealand winning that match at Chennai by 1 run.
* New Zealand remain the only side which hasn't yet lost to India in a T20I. They have won all four matches against India.
From the stats desk: So, what are the important stats going ahead of today's encounter. Here are a few from our stats editor, Deepu Narayanan.

'They have everything. From 1 to 11, it is hard to find a weak link,' Michael Vaughan, former England captain, says about this Indian team. In short, the title is for India to lose.

Expert analysis: So, what do the experts say. 'India have more chances of winning against them (New Zealand) in India as the ball will turn, the spinners will have a big role and the batsmen are very good in home conditions,' Virender Sehwag reckoned, while analyzing India's chances against New Zealand.

India will not have it all their way though. The first roadblock is a team that has never lost to them in T20Is, it's the new look New Zealand, trying to adjust to life without Brendon McCullum. Be it Johannesburg, Christchurch, Wellington or Chennai, the results have always went in favour of the men from the southern hemisphere. They might be missing their talisman, but New Zealand have been the banana skin team for India, one that the hosts can't take lightly. They are coming on the back of impressive wins at home, against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Many of their cricketers are well tuned for Indian conditions (thanks to IPL exposure). It will not be a big surprise if they end up on the winning note tonight.

Recent form: Ironically though, most of India's recent successes have come overseas, a sharp contrast to their exploits in Test cricket. At home, their form has been patchy at best. Their lone defeat in T20Is this year came against Sri Lanka, in Pune. In late 2015, they were outclassed by South Africa at home. Favourites: Yes. Invincible: No.

With the tournament played in India, the excitement has gone sky high. If you are to talk about the favourites, it's just one team that's coming out from every mouth - from the roadside vendor to the software engineer, from the layman to the experts, it's India all the way. There's a sense of belief going around that it's going to be MS Dhoni's men who will have the last laugh. The recent performances have been outstanding, the 3-0 series win against Australia, the home series win against Sri Lanka and most recently, the Asia Cup victory.