Bruised Hardik Pandya's brigade lock horns with New Zealand as Mitchell Santner's side won the toss and opted to bat first in the second T20I of the three-match series at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday (January 29).
Hardik dropped express speedster Umran Malik to include ace spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in India's playing XI. Hardik's decision to drop Umran could be be because of the poor economy rate of 11.14 in T20Is.
“We were also thinking to bat first but bowling is also fine. This is a new team, but we have spoken about getting into the challenge and having to do difficult things. It can't difficult than this in a bilateral series, losing the first game and then two games on the line. Looking forward to this game. We are going to make mistakes and learn from them. It's important they come out here and enjoy the sport. We all should remember that we started playing this sport to enjoy, so I just want to pass that message to the team. It might turn. That's the reason we have made one change. Umran misses out, Yuzi comes in. The KulCha is back, a lot of people wanted to see, they are wicket-takers. The way Washi is playing, we've got three proper spinners who can squeeze if required,” India skipper Hardik Pandya said after losing the toss.
“We are gonna have a bat. The stats say that it's challenging to chase here. We'll try to get some runs on the board and see what it does. We had a tough one-day series, it was nice to bounce back with a win. Different guys stepping up at different times is always nice. It's never easy to beat India at home. That partnership between Surya and Hardik put them right back in the game. The key is to take wickets through the middle, that's the best way to slow them down. You got to take that (bigger ground dimensions) into account. Same team,” New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said.
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
