After Day 1 washed out because of rain, India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first in the first Test match against New Zealand at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Shubman Gill missed the first Test match and India added Sarfaraz Khan in place of the young batter. Kuldeep Yadav replaced Indian speedster Akash Deep.
India are coming after winning the two Test match series against Bangladesh and on the other hand, New Zealand are coming after losing a Test series 2-0 against Sri Lanka. India is very dominant in Test conditions, having not lost a Test series at home since their 1-2 loss to England in the 2012-13 season.
Captains at toss
Tom Latham: Wicket has been under covers so hopefully we can make good use of it early with the ball. Bit of weather around, so we have't had a great prep here. Three seamers with Ajaz Patel and we have two all-rounders who bowl spin too
Rohit Sharma: We are going to have a bat first. It has been under the covers and we do understand that it could be slightly sticky early on but the nature of the pitch is such that you would want to put runs on the board first. You want to get the result as much as we want. We assess where we are 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. From the last Test two changes, Gill misses out, Sarfaraz comes in. Kuldeep comes in for Akash
Chinnaswamy pitch report: Great drainage. No reminiscence at all that it rained. It has been under the covers, which means it has a lot of dampness. It is quite cold when you touch it. When you touch it, it is slightly harder and it is dry underneath. New ball could nip around early on and the spinners could get some help as well
India vs New Zealand Test head-to-head
India and New Zealand have played 63 Test matches against each other where the Men in Blue holds the edge by winning 22 matches. Blackcaps won 13 Test matches against India. 27 matches between India and New Zealand ended as a draw. New Zealand and India have played one match against each other at a neutral venue which was the WTC final where the Kane Williamson-led side defeated India to win the title.
Revised session timings from Day 2
1st session - 9.15am-11.30am
2nd session - 12.10 pm-2.25 pm
3rd session - 2.45 pm-4.45 pm
India vs New Zealand playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
