IND vs NZ 1st T20I | 'He's not the fastest guy in the world, but man, he's so skilful...': Jacob Duffy on Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Pic: File Pic)

Team India is set to lock horns with New Zealand in the five-match T20I series. The first clash is scheduled to be played on October 22 at the Hagley Park South in the central city of Christchurch.

Ahead of the match, New Zealand's pacer Jacob Duffy heaped praise on speedster Bhuvneshwar Kumar after he made his return to the Indian mix after nearly four years. He said that Bhuvneshwar is not the fastest in the world, but is a skilful bowler. Duffy also added that the 36-year-old Indian cricketer reads the batsmen very well.

"He's not the fastest guy in the world, but man, he's so skilful. Obviously, he swings the ball, he hits with a much better length, he reads batters very well, and he's got the skills to change it up too. So, it was very cool to see him from his team's point of view to be on his side and see how he goes about it. Looking forward to seeing him," he said in the pre-match press conference.

So far, the Uttar Pradesh-born cricketer has made 87 appearances for the "Men in Blue" in the shortest format of the game. He has also bagged 90 wickets, with his best bowling figures being five wickets for four runs.

Bhuvneshwar has also registered three four-wicket hauls and two five-wicket hauls to his name.

The second T20I match will be played on October 24 at the same venue. The third T20I match is scheduled to be played on October 27 at the Wellington Regional Stadium in Wellington, followed by the fourth game on October 30 at the Eden Park in Auckland. The Seddon Park in Hamilton will host the fifth clash on November 1.

IND vs NZ 1st T20I: Full squads

India: 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.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Matt Henry, Glenn Phillips, Zak Foulkes, Michael Bracewell, Adam Milne, Mitchell Santner (C), Bevon Jacobs, Jacob Duffy, Daryl Mitchell, Tim Seifert, Mark Chapman, Kyle Jamieson, Devon Conway, Nathan Smith, Lockie Ferguson.

(With ANI Inputs)