KL Rahul dropped as New Zealand opt to bat first in Pune

India have been in this position before as well, where they have lost the first match of the series before wrapping the series in dominant fashion. 2017 against Australia, 2021 against England and most recently, the five-Test series against England earlier this year. Now, this New Zealand series presents yet another opportunity for the side to repeat the custom. 

At the toss, New Zealand skipper Tom Latham didn’t mince any words, stating that the Black Caps wanted to bat first on this surface. With the conditions expected to aid spinners, it perhaps is the right decision for them to make one change, replacing an injured Matt Henry with Mitchell Santner. 

However, the biggest news from the toss comes from Rohit Sharma, with the Indian skipper announcing that India’s patience with KL Rahul has finally run out. Not just that, the duo of Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav too have been left out, with Akash Deep and Washington Sundar replacing them. 

Playing XIs

India make three changes, with Washington Sundar, Shubman Gill and Akash Deep coming into the setup

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

There’s only one change for New Zealand, a forced one, with Santner walking into the setup

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke

What did the two captains say?

Rohit: Would've batted as well. When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn't go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. Always want to find ways to get back into the Test match when you're behind. That's what we did. The pitch is a little drier, yes. We do understand how important the first 10 overs are. Three changes - Siraj, KL and Kuldeep miss out. Akash Deep, Washington and Gill come in.

Latham: We're going to have a bat. The surface is slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. It might produce a bit of spin, as we expect when we come to these parts of the world. Obviously a really proud moment for this group. We celebrated that but our focus has quickly turned to Pune here. It's just about adapting to this surface. Trying to take the confidence we built up from last week. Matt Henry misses out with a glute niggle. Santner comes in.

What’s the pitch like?

“The colour of the pitch remains the same - black soil in both Bangalore and Pune. On a good length area, it's a lot more dry and a lot more devoid of grass. The team winning the toss should bat first, and there will be enough assistance for spinners from ball one,” said Simon Doull and Dinesh Karthik at the toss.

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