NEW DELHI: In the first T20I at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl against New Zealand. Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, and Deepak Chahar have all returned to the playing XI. Mark Chapman, Todd Astle, and Lokie Ferguson have all returned to the New Zealand XI after playing in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday.
In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, India failed to qualify for the last four, with New Zealand finishing as runners-up after an eight-wicket loss to Australia in the final. The tournament marked Virat Kohli’s final appearance as T20I captain, as well as former head coach Ravi Shastri’s final assignment. New Zealand, on the other hand, will be missing their usual skipper Kane Williamson, who will join the Test side following the T20Is. Tim Southee has been picked as the stand-in skipper for the opening T20I in Williamson’s absence.
After a disappointing T20 World Cup, the team’s management was overhauled, and now a new-look Team India, led by newly-appointed coach Rahul Dravid and new T20I captain Rohit Sharma, is ready to make a fresh start. Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj are playing today.