Tilak as vice-captain, Nitish in the mix: India open their New Zealand T20I series at Hagley Oval

India begin a 12-match tour of New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on 22 October with the first of five T20Is. The first ball is at 8 pm local time, which is 12:30 pm IST. Viewers in India can watch it live on the Sony Sports Network channels and the SonyLIV app.

For Telugu fans the story is about leadership. Hyderabad’s Tilak Varma, 23, is vice-captain to Shreyas Iyer in the 16-member squad the BCCI named on 6 October. Nitish Kumar Reddy, the seam-bowling all-rounder from Visakhapatnam, is also in the squad. The playing XI will be known only at the toss.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in the T20I squad, joining Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav in the attack. New Zealand’s weather service, MetService, forecast a fine day in Christchurch, with cloud moving in by evening.

The T20I series

• 22 October: Christchurch
• 24 October: Christchurch
• 27 October: Wellington
• 30 October: Auckland
• 1 November: Hamilton

All five T20Is start at 12:30 pm IST. Five ODIs follow between 4 and 15 November in Auckland, Wellington, Hamilton and Mount Maunganui, each starting at 7:30 am IST. Two Tests close the tour: in Wellington from 19 November, then in Christchurch from 27 November to 1 December.