India may have been missing many of their stars in the current T20I series but the opening tie in Jaipur on Wednesday was not short of drama. Rohit Sharma’s side finally managed to clinch it with two balls remaining.

Barely a week after failing to win their maiden T20 World Cup title in Dubai, New Zealand will look to stay afloat in the three-match series against India in Ranchi on Friday.

India began the Rahul Dravid-Rohit era on a positive note though several aspects still need to be worked on. While the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin impressed with their bowling, New Zealand still managed to reach 164.

The Indians used five bowlers and it will be interesting to see if they have Venkatesh Iyer in their plans as a bowling all-rounder. Similarly, the presence of Yuzvendra Chahal in the reserves also offers depth, despite Axar Patel and Ashwin’s good showing.

As for the batsmen, Suryakumar Yadav managed to impress again at No.3, besides Rohit’s calm assurance at the top of the order. The middle and lower order though need to show much more versatility.

For the visitors, Mark Chapman made up for the absence of Kane Williamson though the absence of Jimmy Neesham was felt in the death overs.

The wicket in Ranchi is expected to be batting friendly. However, dew will play a big part as has been the norm during this time of the year. So expect the team winning the toss to bat second.

Chief curator Shyam Bahadur Singh said as much on Thursday. “Heavy dew is expected from around 7.30pm onwards. We will take all possible measures to negate the impact,” Singh said.

Friday’s T20I is set to be played in front of a full house at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi. According to Jharkhand State Cricket Association secretary Sanjay Sahay, they are expecting a full house after the state government gave the green light for “100 per cent capacity”. As per a state government notification, people who are double vaccinated or carrying an RT-PCR negative result done within 48 hours will be allowed entry into the venue.

Sahay, however, said they would maintain all necessary protocols inside the stadium. “There will be multiple checking and spectators will have to produce double vaccination certificates or a negative RT-PCR result done within 48 hours,” he said.

The 39,000-capacity stadium has tickets priced between Rs 900 and Rs 9,000 and all tickets are “virtually sold out”.

(With inputs from PTI)

Match starts: 7pm, live on Star Sports