Christchurch : The T20I series between New Zealand and India will witness a battle between two of the most exciting T20I batters in the world, openers Finn Allen and Abhishek Sharma, who have been sensational for their respective sides this year.
The first T20I will take place at Christchurch on Thursday. Abhishek owns the fastest T20I century by a player from a Test-playing nation, having scored it against Afghanistan earlier this year. Finn Allen's 33-ball ton against South Africa was the fastest century across ICC T20 and 50-over World Cups.
The 27-year-old Allen has played 62 T20Is for NZ, scoring 1,663 runs in 61 innings at an average of 28.67 and a strike rate of over 170, with three centuries and seven fifties. In 26 T20Is in New Zealand, Allen has made 737 runs in 26 matches and innings at an average of 29.48 and a strike rate of 175.89, with a century and four fifties.
This year in T20Is, Allen has scored 378 runs in 10 matches and nine innings at an average of 54.00, with a strike rate of over 202, with a century and two fifties. His best score is 100*. In 53 T20s this year, Allen has scored 1,496 runs in 52 innings at an average of 31.16 and a strike rate of 180.67, including three centuries and six fifties.
Abhishek has scored 2,071 runs in 67 matches and 66 innings at an average of 32.35 with a strike rate of 194.09, with three centuries and 14 fifties and a best score of 135. He also became the fastest batter to reach 2,000 T20I runs in terms of balls, reaching the milestone in 1,024 balls.
In 34 T20Is this year, Abhishek has scored 956 runs at an average of 28.96 and a strike rate of 201.68, with a century and eight fifties, with a best score of 108. Away from home, Abhishek has scored 957 runs in 35 T20Is and 34 innings, with an average of 29 and a strike rate of 178.54, with a century and seven fifties, including a best score of 100.
India’s T20I Squad: Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [WK], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav.