1 week Ago
(Photo credit: BCCI) NEW DELHI: India skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday announced a couple of surprising changes in the playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. With the Day 1 of the contest wiped out entirely due to rain, the toss happened early (8:45 am) on the second day with Rohit announcing the changes in the XI. Rohit said that star batter Shubman Gill misses out not being '100 percent' and Sarfaraz Khan comes in his place in the XI.
The skipper also said that pacer Akash Deep has been replaced by left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav for the Test. "We are going to have a bat first. It (pitch) has been under the covers and we do understand that it could be slightly sticky early on but the nature of the pitch is such that you would want to put runs on the board first," Rohit said at toss.
"We have played well in the last few Test matches. Fresh series for us and we want to start well. From the last Test (against Bangladesh) two changes, Gill misses out, Sarfaraz comes in.
Kuldeep comes in for Akash. The BCCI later said in a statement that Gill was unavailable for selection due to a neck stiffness. This means that India have gone in with the combination of two pacers and three spinners for the opening Test against the Kiwis.
India XI - Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli , KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj New Zealand XI - Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke.
