India-New Zealand T20 series from Thursday: Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer leads; the five-match schedule and full squad

Just two days after Dasara, from Thursday 22 October, India play a five-match T20 series in New Zealand. The squad announced by the BCCI selectors on 6 October is led by Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer, with Tilak Varma as vice-captain. The series opens at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

Five matches, four cities

• 1st T20I: Thursday, 22 October, Christchurch
• 2nd T20I: Saturday, 24 October, Christchurch
• 3rd T20I: Tuesday, 27 October, Wellington
• 4th T20I: Friday, 30 October, Auckland
• 5th T20I: Sunday, 1 November, Hamilton

The 16-man squad

• Batters: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Naman Dhir
• Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan
• All-rounders: Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy
• Pace bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav
• Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy (Axar Patel also bowls spin)

Five Maharashtra players on the tour

Captain Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shivam Dube both play their domestic cricket for Mumbai. Three more players from the state are in the India A squad for three four-day matches against New Zealand A on the same tour: Mumbai opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, Maharashtra left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary and Vidarbha batter Yash Rathod. India A, led by Dhruv Jurel, begin their first match in Lincoln on 24 October.

After the T20 series, the two countries also play ODI and Test series on the same tour.

Source: BCCI (squads and schedule)