Gautam Gambhir's Favorite Dropped from Playing XI in IND vs NZ T20 Opener

• India vs New Zealand 5-match T20 series begins at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur.
• This series is crucial for both teams as it's their last before the T20 World Cup starting February 7th.
• New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bowl first; New Zealand previously beat India 2-1 in the ODI series.
• Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar are out due to injuries; Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi replaced them in the squad but are benched for the first T20.
• Ishan Kishan gets a chance at number three, while Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, and Ravi Bishnoi are dropped from the Playing XI.

Why It Matters: A key player favored by Gautam Gambhir was dropped from India's Playing XI for the first T20 against NZ.