(Cricket news) India and New Zealand are gearing up for a 3 match T20I series. The series will be an important one for both sides in preparation of the 2023 ODI World Cup. India have rested KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami. India are likely to use this series and the one in Bangladesh to try out different players before selecting a consistent team after that. New Zealand on the other hand have a pretty strong squad. The match will be played at Eden Park in Auckland where hopefully rain won't interrupt play like it did in the T20Is.

India's possible playing XI:

Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik

Bench: Sanju Samson, Shahbaz Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Sen

Leaving out Sanju Samson is going to be a tough call but it looks like Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant are ahead in the pecking order. Arshdeep Singh is in amazing form in T20Is but he is yet to make his ODI debut. The trio of Chahar, Shardul and Umran works better as a combination. India could leave Chahal out because they have Sundar and Hooda as spinners but it is unlikely. This is a very good opportunity for Suryakumar yada Yadav to make an impact in the ODIs which is something he has failed to do so far. 

New Zealand possible playing XI:

Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne

Bench: Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry

The team is without senior figures like Martin Guptill and Trent Boult but this is still a really good team. The pace trio of Southee, Ferguson and Milne is very lethal along with the all-rounders Neesham and Santner. Matt Henry is also a good option as is Michael Bracewell New Zealand will definitely bring out their A game especially after how the T20 series went. 

Also read: Takeaways from India's victory over New Zealand in rain affected T20I series