IND vs NZ 1st Test Toss: Shubman Gill, Akash Deep Out; Sarfaraz, Kuldeep Yadav In As India Bat First In Bengaluru
Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma (X.com/@Monti_x5)
The first Test match between India and New Zealand finally kicked off with the toss taking place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Day 2. As seen, Rohit Sharma led India won the toss and opted to bat first.
The opening day of this Test match was washed out due to rain. However, things look promising for a good game of cricket today. Importantly, since the first day was washed out, a significant change has been made to the follow-on rule-a team can now enforce it if they have a lead of 150 and not 200.
IND vs NZ: Playing XI
India Playing XI : Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand Playing XI : Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O'Rourke
IND vs NZ: Captain's Thoughts
Rohit Sharma (India Captain): "We will bat first. It's been under the covers. So, we understand that it's going to be sticky. But as the game progresses, we know the nature of this pitch. We want to put runs on the board. It's a tricky one. You lose an entire day and you have four days to play. A lot can happen over the four days. You want to have the result. We will look how we stand in different junctures and assess the conditions.
Every game becomes important. The last few Test matches we have played, we have played very well. We can take confidence from it. It's a start of a fresh series and we want to start well.
From the last Test we played against Bangladesh, we have made two changes. Shubman Gill misses out. He is not feeling well. Sarfaraz comes in. And Kuldeep comes in place of Akash Deep."
Tom Latham (New Zealand Captain): "We would have batted first as well. Conditions are a little bit overhead, wicket has been under covers, hopefully, we make use of the conditions. We did a lot right in that Test but came out on the wrong side. (Sri Lanka Test match).
It has been great, there is a bit of weather around so haven't got much time out. (On time in India) We are going three seamers today, Ajaz Patel and two all-rounders who bowl spin as well."