India vs New Zealand 1st T20I: Toss and Playing XI Update: Rohit invites Southee to bat, Venkatesh Iyer debuts

On
a
surface
where
the
dew
is
going
to
make
an
impact
as
the
match
progresses,
the
newly-appointed
India
captain
opted
to
chase
against
the
New
Zealand
side
which
coming
back
from
a
good
run
in
T20
World
Cup
2021
in
the
UAE.
New
Zealand
finished
as
the
runners-up
in
the
showpiece
event
after
losing
to
Australia
and
are
going
to
resume
top-flight
cricket
within
72
hours
of
that
final
in
Dubai.

Coach
Rahul
Dravid’s
Indian
side
handed
debut
cap
to
all-rounder
Venkatesh
Iyer
–
who
grabbed
the
limelight
with
his
performance
in
the
IPL
2021
second
phase
in
the
UAE
–
and
even
made
a
few
changes
in
the
squad,
which
is
going
to
be
a
tad
different
than
the
ones
they
fielded
in
the
T20
World
Cup.

Talking
about
his
debut,
Iyer
said,
“Everyone
who
plays
cricket
aspires
to
play
for
the
country,
so
I
feel
good
that
I’ve
been
presented
with
this
opportunity.
Feels
good
to
play
under
Rahul
(Dravid)
sir,
I’m
really
excited
and
looking
forward
to
it.
As
a
cricketer,
you
got
to
be
flexible,
and
I’ll
look
to
capitalise
on
the
role
I’ve
been
given.
I’m
ready
to
bat
at
any
position,
or
bowl
whenever
I’ve
been
asked
to.
It’s
wonderful
to
play
in
front
of
the
(Indian)
crowd,
it’s
great
to
have
them
back.”

Cricket
returns
home
after
a
gap
of
nearly
two
hundred
days
and
this
is
going
to
be
the
first
T20I
at
this
venue.

After
winning
the
toss,
Rohit
said,
“We
will
bowl
first.
The
wicket
looks
good,
thought
behind
is
to
have
a
score
behind
us,
there
was
quite
a
lot
of
dew
while
practising
from
a
couple
of
days.
It’s
been
good,
has
been
only
2
days,
been
a
quick
turnaround,
back
from
Dubai,
spent
a
couple
of
days
at
home
and
back
here.
But
it’ll
be
good
for
the
team.”

While
talking
about
the
playing
eleven
for
the
match
against
New
Zealand,
Rohit
said,
“We
have
Shreyas
Iyer
back,
Venkatesh
is
debuting,
Bhuvi,
Siraj
and
Chahar
are
back.
We’re
playing
three
seamers
and
two
spinners.
We
have
one
eye
on
the
next
World
Cup,
it’s
a
lot
of
time
ahead,
we’ll
try
our
options,
some
results
might
not
be
immediate,
but
the
process
will
be
crucial.”

New
Zealand’s
stand-in
captain
Southee
also
revealed
they
are
making
a
few
changes
to
the
playing
eleven
than
the
one
they
fielded
in
the
final
against
Australia.

“We’d
have
bowled
as
well,
keeping
dew
factor
in
mind.
Pretty
disappointed
at
not
winning
the
World
Cup,
but
this
is
a
great
place
to
play
cricket
and
the
team
is
looking
forward
to
it.
Another
chance
to
give
chances
–
4
changes
for
us
–
Neesham,
KW,
Sodhi
and
Milne
miss
out;
Mark
Chapman,
Todd
Astle,
Rachin
Ravindra
and
Lockie
Ferguson
are
in,”
Southee
said.

Playing
XIs:

New
Zealand:
Martin
Guptill,
Daryl
Mitchell,
Mark
Chapman,
Glenn
Phillips,
Tim
Seifert(w),
Rachin
Ravindra,
Mitchell
Santner,
Tim
Southee(c),
Todd
Astle,
Lockie
Ferguson,
Trent
Boult

India:
Rohit
Sharma(c),
KL
Rahul,
Suryakumar
Yadav,
Shreyas
Iyer,
Rishabh
Pant(w),
Venkatesh
Iyer,
Axar
Patel,
Ravichandran
Ashwin,
Bhuvneshwar
Kumar,
Deepak
Chahar,
Mohammed
Siraj.