Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav come into India's playing eleven as captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand in the opening Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
With rain washing out day one's play on Wednesday, it has effectively made the Test opener a four-day affair. Winning the toss, Rohit said Shubman Gill isn't 100% fit due to neck stiffness, so Sarfaraz is back into the playing eleven after the Dharamshala Test against England in March.
In Gill's absence, KL Rahul has been plugged in as the number three batter for India. On the other hand, Kuldeep has been included as the third spinner along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja well before pace bowler Akash Deep.
"It's been under the sheets and we do know that it could be a bit tacky initially but the character of the wicket is such that you would want to get runs on the board first. You want to get the result as much as we want."
"We assess where we are and decide what needs to be done as a team. We have played well in the last few Test matches. Fresh series for us and we want to start well," he said.
New Zealand's newly appointed skipper Tom Latham said that the visitors are touring with the left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel, and alongside them, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips will also be at their disposal for spin-bowling allrounders. Three pacers are also on board in Matt Henry, Tim Southee and William O'Rourke.
"We would have had a bat as well and the wicket has been under covers for three days now. I guess being Test-match hardened is really good. We have managed to refresh (ourselves at home after the SL tour) and good to go now. (The prep) hasn't been great and haven't had a lot of time outdoors, leaning back on the time in Sri Lanka," he said .
Playing XIs-
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, and William O'Rourke
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