Toss New Zealand chose to bat vs India

New Zealand won their second toss of the series and decided to bat first as they pushed for a first-ever whitewash against India in India. It was an important toss to win again because batting last was not expected to be fun. However, Dinesh Karthik, who inspected the pitch, said there was moisture in the surface, which was expected to make for early turn as well, then some settling down and a lot of turn after that.

New Zealand made two changes, both fitness related. Mitchell Santner, who bowled New Zealand to a win with a sore side in Pune, was out with the side strain, making way for legspinner Ish Sodhi. Matt Henry recovered from a Grade 1 gluteal tear to take his place in the XI, replacing Tim Southee.
Santner had picked up a side strain during the final day of the Pune Test, where he played a starring role. He was ruled out for Mumbai after failing a fitness test on match eve.
India, fighting for pride and also crucial World Test Championship points, made one change: the unwell Jasprit Bumrah made way for Mohammed Siraj. A BCCI statement said Bumrah had “not fully recovered from his viral illness”.

KL Rahul continued to sit out despite the batting failure against spin in Pune.

New Zealand 1 Tom Latham (capt.), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Ish Sodhi, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Will O’Rourke

India 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Washington Sundar, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Akash Deep

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