Kanpur, November 25: India skipper Ajinkya Rahane on Thursday (November 25) won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in the first Test at the Green Park Stadium here.
India handed debut to middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar handed the national cap to the Mumbaikar.
While the Kiwis handed debut to Rachin Ravindra, and they play two other spinners in Ajaz Patel and Will Sommerville.
India skipper Ajinkya Rahane: “We are looking to bat first. The pitch looks really good. Generally, slows down later on here. Shreyas is making his debut. We are all excited to play under the new coaching staff. I personally enjoy playing under Rahul bhai. New Zealand are a quality side. We are going in with 3 spinners, 2 seamers.”
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: “We would have batted first as well. Looking forward to this challenge. It's mixed, but it's okay. Ajaz Patel and Somerviller have done well. We are going in with two spinners, two pacers and a spinning all-rounder debut in Rachin Ravindra.”
Playing 11: India: Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (WK)), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (Captain), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Kyle Jamieson, William Somerville.