India wins the toss and bats against New Zealand in 1st cricket Test, Shubman Gill, Akash Deep miss out

BENGALURU, India (AP) — India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss Thursday and decided to bat first in the rain-affected opening cricket test against New Zealand.

Persistent rain prevented any play on the first day Wednesday after heavy showers in the preceding 48 hours. But play started on time Thursday under cloudy and threatening skies and under lights at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“We want to put runs on the board,” Sharma said after the toss. His New Zealand counterpart Tom Latham also said he would have batted now that the test has been reduced to four days.

India made two changes to its XI from its last test, with Shubman Gill and Akash Deep missing out and replaced by Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav. New Zealand opted for three seamers along with the spin of Ajaz Patel as Mitchell Santner missed out.

India is atop the World Test Championship standings, and a 3-0 win in this series against New Zealand would all but assure its spot for the final at Lord’s next June.

After beating Bangladesh 2-0 in the preceding test series, a full-strength Indian squad was once again available for selection.

New Zealand has already been on a long subcontinental tour. It began with a washed-out test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida, India, followed by a 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka.

The second test will be played in Pune starting Oct. 24 and the third in Mumbai from Nov. 1.

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke

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