India and New Zealand will be vying to climb the points table in Group 2 of the ongoing T20 World Cup, following respective losses to Pakistan in their opening matches of the tournament in UAE. India were handed their first World Cup defeat by the arch-rivals on October 24 after Pakistani openers Babar Azam and Rizwan Ahmad chased down a 152-run target in 17.5 overs at the Dubai International Stadium in UAE. New Zealand, too, suffered a comprehensive 5-wicket loss at the hands of Pakistan.

Here is a look at the players likely to be find  a place in the playing 11 for India’s October 31 match against New Zealand.

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KL Rahul just manged an 8-ball 3 against Pakistan before falling to left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi in the third over. However, he is likely to retain his opening slot on performances in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rohit Sharma is also likely to get another chance against New Zealand despite his first ball dismissal by Afridi in the game against Pakistan, owing to past performances and reputation of being a match winner.

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Skipper Virat Kohli scored the only half-century for India in their clash against Pakistan and would look to repeat his performance against the Black Caps.

Youngster Ishan Kishan could replace Suryakumar Yadav, on the back of a quickfire 70 for India in the warm-up match against England.

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India will also be banking on wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to pitch in with his usual power hitting and Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round abilities. Jadega could also prove handy with the ball on the slow Dubai track.

India could turn to Shardul Thakur for boosting the all-rounder slot in place of Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t been able to bowl much due to fitness concerns. Thakur has had a successful run in both international and franchise cricket.

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Ravichandran Ashwin could replace seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar amid calls by experts for India to reinforce their spin attack, which may also see the inclusion of another slow bowler Varun Chakravarthy.

However, Mohammed Shami, who has been under attack from fans for his performance against Pakistan, is likely to lead the Indian pace attack alongside Jasprit Bumrah.