India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field against New Zealand in the first T20I of the three-match series, here on Wednesday.
Speaking at the toss, Rohit confirmed that all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer is making his T20I debut for India in today’s match.
“We will bowl first. The wicket looks good, though behind is to have a score behind us, there was quite a lot of dew while practicing for a couple of days. It’s been good, it has been only 2 days, been a quick turnaround, back from Dubai, spent a couple of days at home and back here. But it’ll be good for the team,” said Sharma.
“We have Shreyas Iyer back, Venkatesh is debuting, Bhuvi, Siraj and Chahar are back. We’re playing three seamers and two spinners. We have one eye on the next World Cup, it’s a lot of time ahead, we’ll try our options, some results might not be immediate, but the process will be crucial,” he added.
On the other hand, pacer Tim Southee is leading New Zealand in absence of regular captain Kane Williamson.
“We’d have bowled as well, keeping the dew factor in mind. Pretty disappointed at not winning the World Cup, but this is a great place to play cricket and the team is looking forward to it. Another chance to give chances – 4 changes for us – Neesham, KW, Sodhi and Milne miss out; Mark Chapman, Todd Astle, Rachin Ravindra and Lockie Feruson are in,” said Southee at the toss.
The series kickstarts a new era in the Indian team as Rohit takes over as the full-time captain of the T20I side, while legendary former batter Rahul Dravid also begins his journey as the head coach of the senior men’s team.
Playing XI:
New Zealand:
Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
India:
Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj
