India opt to bowl against New Zealand in marquee World Cup clash
India skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against fellow unbeaten New Zealand in Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash of the World Cup.
India have made two changes after they lost star all-rounder Hardik Pandya due to an ankle injury and has not travelled with the team to the Himalayan venue.
Twenty20 batting sensation Suryakumar Yadav and fast bowler Mohammed Shami make the team in place of Pandya and Shardul Thakur.
The Kiwis come in unchanged from their previous win over Afghanistan. They have three seamers led by Trent Boult and two spinners.
Regular captain Kane Williamson is sidelined with a fractured thumb.
“We were here training yesterday and felt that a bit of dew comes in,” Rohit said at the toss. “Looks like a good pitch, we’ll back ourselves to chase.”
Stand-in New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said he also would have bowled first had he won the toss, but they are looking to keep the “momentum going”.
The Black Caps have an edge in World Cup match-ups with a 5-3 advantage and knocked out India in the semi-finals of the last edition in 2019.
Teams
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Latham (capt/wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Mark Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Umpires: Michael Gough, Richard Kettleborough
TV Umpire: Paul Wilson
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft