Ganesh Kendale
NEW DELHI: For the crucial second Test at the MCA Stadium in Pune, India made significant changes to their playing XI, bringing in Akash Deep, Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill. Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav missed out. New Zealand, coming off an eight-wicket win in the series opener in Bengaluru, won the toss and opted to bat first.
Speaking at the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma reflected on the positives from the previous match and emphasized the importance of the first session.
“Would’ve batted as well. When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn’t go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. Always want to find ways to get back into the Test match when you’re behind. That’s what we did. Pitch is a little drier, yes. We do understand how important the first 10 overs are. Three changes – Siraj, KL, and Kuldeep miss out. Akash Deep, Washington, and Gill come in,” Rohit explained.
New Zealand captain Tom Latham decided to bat first, citing the conditions of the Pune pitch. The visitors made one change, with Mitchell Santner replacing the injured Matt Henry, who was instrumental in their Bengaluru victory with eight wickets.
“We’re going to have a bat. Surface slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. Might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world. Obviously a really proud moment for this group. We celebrated that, but our focus has quickly turned to Pune here. It’s just about adapting to this surface. Trying to take the confidence we built up for last week. Matt Henry misses out with a glute niggle. Santner comes in,” Latham said.
Playing XIs:
- India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah
- New Zealand XI: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (w), Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
India will look to bounce back after their loss in Bengaluru, while New Zealand will be aiming to seal the series with another strong performance.
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