David Warner

"Firstly, winning the World Cup is a big deal and then the Under-19 women's winning the inaugural World Cup by which the name of India will be written on it in golden letters is a big deal. By the way, the women's cricket team has played the semi-finals of the World Cup many times and also played the finals many times but never won the trophy."

Indian bowlers produced a sensational performance to restrict New Zealand to 99/8 in 20 overs. Spinners spun the web and took the first five wickets of New Zealand, who never got the momentum throughout the innings. The Indian pacers then did a brilliant finishing job for the hosts. Arshdeep Singh (2-7) was the most successful bowler for India.

Though there was a 68-run stand off 51 balls for the fourth wicket between Hardik and Suryakumar Yadav, followed by Washington Sundar notching up his maiden T20I fifty after taking 2/22 with the ball, it couldn't make up for the top-three batters falling in power-play and eventually, India ended up 21 runs short, giving New Zealand 1-0 lead in three-match series.

After Daryl Mitchell and Devon Conway smashed half-centuries in powering New Zealand to 176/6 in 20 overs, including a 27-run final over, India lost their top three in powerplay as Santner, Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi made the most out of turn and controlled their line and length well to guide visitors to their first win of the tour.

Suryakumar, the top-ranked batter in T20Is, was recently named the winner of the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Year 2022 award for becoming just the second batter to score more than 1000 runs in a year in the format with his astonishing 360-degree strokeplay. He was the highest run-getter in T20Is in 2022, scoring 1,164 runs at a ridiculous strike rate of 187.43.

Brevis has so far amassed 133 runs in five games at a strike rate of 117 in the South Africa T20 league. While interacting on the eve of MICT's game against Paarl Royals, the youngster who was inducted into the Mumbai Indians last season said that he's happy to represent two teams of the MI family.

Four out of the top five batters, including stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana, had fallen for single-digit scores. Eyes were on all-rounders Deepti Sharma and debutant Amanjot Kaur in the middle to carry India to a respectable total. Amanjot was finding it hard to tee off, being at seven off 13 balls at one stage and not making the full use of a free hit on a no-ball.

Left-arm spin all-rounder Mitchell Santner will lead the squad that features an experienced T20 core including nine players from last year's ICC Men's T20 World Cup squad, along with a range of players newer to international cricket, including Lister. Selector Gavin Larsen noted in an official statement that Santner had impressed in his previous ten opportunities as captain of the New Zealand T20I team.

Root, who will represent Dubai Capitals in the inaugural DP World ILT20 against Abu Dhabi Knight Riders on Friday, said he is impressed by the manner in which Tendulkar handled the tremendous pressure that he faced during his playing days. "I mean obviously there are some wonderful players currently playing but look at what Sachin has achieved, it's just remarkable really, the longevity, the ability to be such a high-performing player at such a young age,

A total of six franchises which include Abu Dhabi Knight Riders, Desert Vipers, Dubai Capitals, Gulf Giants, MI Emirates and Sharjah Warriors will be battling it out, to lift the magnificent competition trophy, from January 13 to February 12 across Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. And all six franchises have now finalised their squads for one of the most exciting cricket leagues in the world.