Skipper Virat Kohli announced that India has made two major changes for the Super 12 clash against New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Suryakumar Yadav made way for in-form Ishan Kishan whereas inconsistent Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been replaced by bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
After losing the toss and put to bat first, skipper Virat Kohli revealed that Suryakumar complained of back spasms and has been advised rest by the BCCI medical team. The right-handed Mumbai Indians batter has stayed back at the team hotel.
"It's another opportunity to come out and correct the mistakes. Two changes. One forced, Surya has a lower back spasm, so Ishan Kishan will replace him and open the batting. Shardul Thakur replaces Bhuvneshwar," said Kohli.
Kishan was in good form in the last two matches of recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 followed by another half-century in warm-up game against England. On the other hand, Thakur was Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) go-to bowler in the IPL 2021.
One change for the Kiwis
In the tournament opener against arch-rivals Pakistan, Bhuvneshwar was ineffective with the ball leaking 25 runs from three overs. Surya did not make an impact either after the two openers’ lost their wickets to Shaheen Shah Afridi. He could manage only 11 runs from eight balls including a four and a six.
New Zealand also made a change to their set-up, bringing in Adam Milne in place of Tim Seifert to add “balance” to their bowling attack. Devon Conway will be keeping the wickets for the BlackCaps.
"We are going to bowl, dew factor at this time of the year. Look forward to another challenge. One change, Adam Milne comes in for Tim Seifert. Just to balance our bowling attack. Conway will keep," said Williamson.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy
New Zealand Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult
