India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against New Zealand in their bid to clinch the series in the second one-day international on Saturday.
The hosts, who lead the three-match series 1-0, remain unchanged in Raipur from their opening win.
Rohit took a while to announce his decision to field and told the presenter he “forgot” about the team call.
He said at the toss, “I forgot what we wanted to do, had plenty of discussions with the team about the toss decision, just wanted to challenge ourselves under difficult conditions, but we’ll bowl first. Was a good test for us, knowing that the wicket will get better to bat on and that was the challenge in front of us.”
New Zealand kept the same team from their 12-run loss on Wednesday and skipper Tom Latham said he would have also elected to bowl had he won the toss.
Latham, meanwhile, said, “We would have bowled first as well, 1st international game here, so not sure how this wicket will play. Great last game, executed well in the bat and hoping to do the same here. Looking to take back the experience, it’s important to win games, but the experience of playing in these conditions will be handy as well.”
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
Umpires: KN Ananthapadmanabhan (IND), Nitin Menon (IND)
TV Umpire: Jayaraman Madanagopal (IND)
Match Referee: Javagal Srinath (IND)
With inputs from AFP
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!