At the opening toss of the first Test between India and New Zealand at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India captain Rohit Sharma caught everyone off guard. After the first day of play without a ball being bowled, the toss was held at 8:45 am to allow for an early start on the second day. After winning the toss on Thursday, Rohit made the decision to bat first without second thought, resisting the urge to take advantage of the cloudy weather. However, the playing XI for India was the bigger surprise.
India, who had played both Tests with the same squad, made two changes to the starting eleven that defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in the two-match series. Sarfaraz Khan took over as India’s designated No. 3 from Shubman Gill. “Shubman Gill was unavailable for selection of the first Test due to neck stiffness,” the BCCI stated.
Gill, a right-handed batsman, has reportedly been dealing with neck pain for the past few days, despite being photographed on Thursday in Chinnaswamy with the other Indian cricket players.
The Indian bowling assault underwent another alteration. Contrary to common opinion, India entered the match with three specialist spinners rather than an additional seamer, and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav was selected ahead of pacer Akash Deep.
India refused to bat last.
When choosing the starting XI, Rohit said the Indian team management took the circumstances into account. India did not want to bat last because, according to Rohit, the pitch was anticipated to be moist due to being covered for more than two days.
“(The pitch has) been hidden for a few days, and we are aware that it will be difficult at first. We wanted to score runs while keeping it in mind,” he stated.
There’s little reason to think that India can’t do the same with four days against New Zealand, having already defeated Bangladesh with a session to spare despite missing two and a half days to rain and a damp outfield in Kanpur. Still, Rohit answered with restraint.
“Well, it’s a challenging one since you have four days to play and lose the entire day. Over the course of the four days, a lot can also happen, so you want to learn as much as you can. We performed well in the last few Test matches, which gives us confidence. The table also appears fantastic,” Rohit remarked.
Two additional Test matches between India and New Zealand are scheduled for Pune, October 24-28, and Mumbai, November 1–5.
India XI: Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, and Rishabh Pant (wk).
The following players represent New Zealand: Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke, Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, and Tom Latham (c).
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