MEN IN BLUE UP AGAINST ‘NICE GUYS’

The loss still rankles him but Virat Kohli on Thursday said he can't really bring himself to think of revenge when India take on ‘nice guys’ New Zealand for the first time after the Kiwis sent his side packing from the ODI World Cup last year.

The Black Caps defeated pre-tournament favourites India by 18 runs in the semifinals of the showpiece in England and Friday's tour-opening T20 International is the first clash between the two sides since then. Kohli has spoken repeatedly about how devastating the loss was for him personally.

"Even if you want to think of revenge, these guys are so nice you cannot get into that zone," said Kohli at the pre-match press conference.

"We get along really well with these guys and it's all about being competitive on the field. As I said in England, they are probably one side that has set the example for teams to play international cricket," he reasoned.

Preparations for the World Cup on top of Indi’s agenda, awaiting a rare five-match T20 International series starting today during which seam-friendly wickets would be a major challenge for the visitors.

Unlike most overseas tours, this will be a quick start for the Indian team. In a tight season, the first T20 comes only five days after their last ODI against Australia at home.

The team arrived in Auckland on Tuesday and chose to rest on Wednesday. Thursday was when they hit the nets ahead of the tour-opening game.

On the plus side, this hectic schedule helps the team management maintain consistency in team selection as they continue experimenting across the available squad in a World Cup year. The T20 showpiece is scheduled to be held in Australia in October this year.

Despite injury issues to key white-ball personnel like Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar this past home season, the bench strength has come across adequate and raring to go for challenges ahead.

It begins at the top where KL Rahul has stepped up as a key part of India's whiteball plans.

He did enough against the West Indies as Shikhar Dhawan's replacement to merit a starting spot, and then formed a solid pairing when Dhawan returned while Rohit Sharma was rested. And now, India will once again start this T20 series with Rohit and Rahul pairing up at the top.

Skipper Virat Kohli also dropped hints that Rahul's newfound confidence in his dual role as batsman-keeper has given vital options to the team.