T20 World Cup: India vs New Zealand: Toss, Playing XI: Williamson invites Kohli to bat; Thakur, Kishan come in

On Sunday, Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to bowl first against Virat Kohli-led India in Dubai. Both sides are heading into the game after losing their opening matches to Pakistan.

India, who fell to a 10-wicket loss to arch-rivals Pakistan, named two changes in the playing XI on Sunday. While Ishan Kishan comes in for Suryakumar Yadav, who is out due to a back spasm, Shardul Thakur makes it to the playing XI in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Meanwhile, Williamson named just one change in their line-up as Adam Milne comes in for Tim Seifert.

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Playing XIs:

India Playing 11: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (capt), Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand Playing 11: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (capt), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Ishan Sodhi, Trent Boult

Captains Speak:

Virat Kohli (India): We would have bowled first as well, honestly. We need a solid start and we need to have wickets in hand to get those extra 20-25 runs. We do have the bowling line-up to take wickets, but when you don’t have runs on the board one partnership can take the game away from you. We understand that and plans are there to get those extra runs. It’s ridiculous, we are playing twice in 10 days. Too long a break. But, the guys have recovered well. Had good practice sessions, are itching to go out on the field, which is a good thing. When you have so many days off you want to get on the park and get back into the groove. It’s another opportunity to come out and correct the things that didn’t happen the last time. Two changes. Surya has a lower back spasm, so Ishan Kishan will replace him and open the batting. Shardul Thakur comes in for Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Kane Williamson (New Zealand): We are going to bowl first, dew factor at this time of the year. Hopefully a bit of movement in the surface like the other night. Look forward to another challenge against these guys who are obviously one of the favourites in the tournament. One change, Adam Milne comes in for Tim Seifert. Just us a nice balance to our bowling attack provides us with the extra pace as well. Conway will keep.