India vs New Zealand, 1st ODI Toss Report: Hosts Opt to Bat First; Kishan, Pandya & Thakur in Playing 11

Hyderabad, January 18: India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand in the first ODI of the three match series at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday (January 18).

As for the team news, India has made four changes to the playing 11 from the final ODI against Sri Lanka with one forced change as Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the series. KL Rahul and Axar Patel have also been rested for the series.

Team India see the return of Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan and Shardul Thakur. The trio will come into the side in place of Rahul, Umran Malik and Shreyas Iyer. Plus, Washington Sundar comes in to replace Axar.

New Zealand are also without regular skippers Kane Williamson and Tim Southee. Tom Latham leads the side that also included Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner among others.

After opting to bat first, Rohit said: "Looks a good pitch, little dry. We want to make sure we want to bowl under lights and defend score. We did well against Sri Lanka, but this is a different challenge.

"Important for us to keep the momentum going. The spirit in the team is really good. Three changes. Hardik is back, Shardul is back. SKY and Ishan are playing as well."

After being asked to bowl first, New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said: "We would have bowled first. Looks a good surface. They tend to be pretty good in India. We are missing a couple of key guys from the Pakistan series, but it's an opportunity for the other guys.

"We love coming to India and experiencing all that the country has to offer. Most of the squad has pretty much played a good number of games. Three seamers and two spinners today."

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI Pitch Report

At the pitch report, former India spinner Murali Kartik and former New Zealand pacer Danny Morrison reckoned it's a good surface and batting first or second the wicket won't change much.

"278 (is) average first innings score, it suggests it's a good surface. Either side (square) - 63 metres and downtown 70 metres. Not a cloud in the sky. The pitch - it's a nice straw-coloured surface, light grass but pretty evenly rolled," Kartik and Morrison told the host broadcaster Star Sports.

"Batting first or batting second is immaterial. The curator says it's pretty cold in the evenings which is what we saw in the last two days. There's not enough dew to suggest that batting second is an option. It's up to the teams' makeup what they want to do."

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI Playing 11s:

India XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami

New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (captain/wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner