NZ vs IND 1st T20I 2026: List of Umpires, Match Referee and Commentators Today’s Match

Chris Brown and Shaun Haig will be the on-field umpires for the NZ vs IND 1st T20I on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Kim Cotton is the TV umpire, Cory Black is the fourth umpire, and Ranjan Madugalle is the match referee. The match starts at 12:30 PM IST, and the toss time is at 12:00 PM IST.

This is the first match of the five-match T20I series, which opens India’s tour of New Zealand. The tour runs from October 22 to December 1 and includes five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests. India are led by Shreyas Iyer, and New Zealand are led by Mitchell Santner.

NZ vs IND 1st T20I: Match Details

NZ vs IND 1st T20I: List of Umpires and Match Referee

Chris Brown

Chris Brown is a New Zealand umpire who was born in Rarotonga and played first-class cricket for Auckland. He is a member of the ICC International Panel of Umpires and stood in matches at the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup.

Shaun Haig

Shaun Haig is a New Zealand umpire and a former Otago batter. He joined the ICC International Panel in 2016 and made his T20I umpiring debut in January 2017, in a match between New Zealand and Bangladesh.

Kim Cotton

Kim Cotton is a New Zealand umpire from Canterbury and a lawyer by profession. She became the first woman to stand in a men’s international between two ICC Full Members in April 2023, and she has umpired in ICC women’s finals.

Cory Black

Cory Black is a New Zealand umpire from Wellington who began umpiring in Adelaide before moving to New Zealand in 2016. He was promoted to the ICC International Panel of Umpires ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Ranjan Madugalle

Ranjan Madugalle is a former Sri Lanka Test batter and the longest-serving member of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees. In 2024 he became the first match referee to officiate in 400 men’s ODIs.

Must Read: India vs New Zealand 2026 Schedule

NZ vs IND 2026 Tour: List of Commentators

Both broadcasters have named commentary teams for India’s tour of New Zealand, which has five T20Is, five ODIs and two Tests. Sky Sport covers the series in New Zealand, and Sony Sports Network covers it in India. Sky Sport also offers Hindi commentary for the whole tour, in partnership with Sony Pictures Networks India.

Sky Sport English Commentators

Also Read: India A vs New Zealand A 2026 Schedule

IND vs WI 5th T20I Live Telecast and Streaming

IND vs NZ 1st T20I Squads

India Squad

Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Naman Dhir.

New Zealand Squad

Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Josh Clarkson, Nathan Smith, Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips (wk), Tim Seifert (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Blair Tickner.

Also Read: PAK vs ENG 2nd Match Result

IND vs NZ 1st T20I: Venue Guide

NZ vs IND 2026 T20I Series Schedule

Also Read: West Indies vs Bangladesh 2026 Schedule