IND vs NZ: India opt to bat, Sarfaraz Khan comes in place of Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav for Akash Deep

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IND vs NZ: India won the toss and elected to bat first on Day 2 (Thursday, October 17) of the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Entire Day 1 play was washed off due to rain.

India has picked three spinners for the match as Kuldeep Yadav, who did not play in the two Test matches against Bangladesh, was included in the India playing eleven in place of Akash Deep.

Also, Shubman Gill missed out because of Shubman Gill's injury. Sarfaraz Khan, who recently smashed a double hundred in the Irani Cup against Rest of India, came in place of Gill.

"We are going to have a bat first. It has been under the covers and we do understand that it could be slightly sticky early on but the nature of the pitch is such that you would want to put runs on the board first," Rohit Sharma explained after opting to bat in overcast Bengaluru conditions.

"You want to get the result as much as we want. We assess where we are decide what needs to be done as a team (On no play on Day 1). We have played well in the last few Test matches. Fresh series for us and we want to start well. From the last Test two changes, Gill misses out, Sarfaraz comes in. Kuldeep comes in for Akash," he added.

Further, New Zealand captain Tom Latham revealed that his team could not prepare with full intensity due to the Bengaluru rains, before revealing his team combination of three pacers, a specialist spinner in Ajaz Patel and two all-rounders - Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips - who can bowl spin.

"Wicket has been under covers so hopefully we can make good use of it early with the ball. Bit of weather around, so we have't had a great prep here. Three seamers with Ajaz Patel and we have two all-rounders who bowl spin too," Latham said.

India Playing 11 vs New Zealand 1st Test: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand Playing 11 vs India: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke