After a successful home season, India will now tour New Zealand for a full-fledged series. The assignment will consist of 5 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Test matches. The tour will get underway with the T20Is with the first match to be played on January 24. With the two sides enjoying a great run in limited-overs cricket, one can expect the series to be a nail-biter.  However, the visitors will heavily depend on their skipper Virat Kohli, who has been the mainstay of the side in the recent times and below, we’ll look at his record against the Black Caps in the shortest format of the game. India vs New Zealand 2020 Schedule in IST, Free PDF Download.

The right-handed batsman’s first T20I against New Zealand came way in 2012 in which he scored 70 runs while opening the innings. After that, the batting juggernaut played four more T20I matches against the Kiwis in which he mustered one more half-century. However, he got a start is every outing which means Kohli certainly enjoys playing against the Kiwis. Well, he will eye to extend his purple patch put up some more significant scores in the upcoming series. Also, the small dimensions of the grounds will go in favour of the batsmen and one can see Kohli smashing and a lot of boundaries and maximums. Shikhar Dhawan Ruled Out of New Zealand Tour After Suffering Shoulder Injury Against Australia.

Virat Kohli's T20I Record Against New Zealand:

Player Name T20I Matches Runs Average Highest Score 50/100
Virat Kohli 5 177 44.25 70 2/0

With the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 being less than a year away, the relevance of the series is even greater and both the sides must leave no stones unturned to clinch the victory. Also, both the sides will look to try various combinations in order to identify their best playing XI and strengthen their squad for the gala tournament.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 21, 2020 04:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).