India Opts to Bowl First in 2nd T20 vs New Zealand; Axar, Bumrah Out

Raipur: India won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second T20 match against New Zealand at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Friday. The Indian team has made two changes to its playing XI, while New Zealand has made three.

Axar Patel is sidelined due to injury, and Jasprit Bumrah has been rested. Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav have replaced them in the Indian lineup. On the other hand, New Zealand has brought in Tim Seifert, Matt Henry, and Jack Faulkes, replacing Robinson, Jamieson, and Clark respectively.

Captain’s Decision to Bowl First

Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav explained, “We will bowl first. There is some dew here, and we have not chased runs recently, so we want to try chasing this time. We aim to improve in every game and in all departments. Two changes have been made in our team – Axar got injured in the last match, and Bumrah has been rested.”

Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner said, “We also would have bowled first if we had won the toss. Playing a top team in their conditions is always a learning experience. Our team has three changes – Seifert replaces Robinson, Jack Faulkes comes in for Clark, and Matt Henry is also included.”

India Looks to Bounce Back After First Loss

India lost the first match of the series by 48 runs and will look to level the series in this encounter. The remaining three matches are scheduled on January 25, 28, and 31 in Guwahati, Visakhapatnam, and Thiruvananthapuram respectively. India has also lost the preceding ODI series 1-2.

Head-to-Head and Playing Elevens

Since 2007, India and New Zealand have faced each other in 26 T20 matches. India has won 13, New Zealand 10, and three matches ended in a tie, with New Zealand winning two of those in super overs.

India’s Playing XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

New Zealand’s Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (c), Jack Faulkes, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy.