Rohit Sharma made one forced change in the Indian side for the Ranchi T20I after winning the toss and opted to field first. The 30-year-old pacer Harshal Patel will be making his T20I debut replacing an injured Mohammed Siraj. Harshal was handed his debut cap by former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar. The 30-year-old impressed the selectors with 32 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
“We have seen it here, it's a nice option to go with. Considering the dew factor, it's good to chase in Ranchi. It was a good effort from the boys. It was a good learning for them as they finished the game, it was a good positive to have from that game. The game is such that you need some energy and experience. We have youngsters who want to express themselves, it's a good setup, it's important moving forward. We have one change, Harshal comes in for Siraj,” Rohit said at the toss.
On the other hand, New Zealand stand-in skipper Tim Southee made three changes to his side. Adam Milne replaced Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi came back to the side replacing Todd Astle and Rachin Ravindra replaced by all-rounder James Neesham.
“We would have bowled first, taking the dew into consideration. It's always about trying to improve. We have to focus on the positives. We'll have to deal with the dew, and find a way to put up a good performance. We have three changes,” Southee said at the toss.
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Deepak Chahar
New Zealand Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee(c), Adam Milne, Trent Boult
