India continued their challenge in bowling on the night they won the draw, opting to bat first in the ODI series opener against New Zealand.
India always looked the other way when KL Rahul and Axar Patel paused. An injury to Shreyas Iyer eased their picking woes, but the big news is that Shardul Thakur is back straight into his XI to give them some depth. Both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav boarded, with Washington Sundar replacing his Axar and Thakur boarding ahead of his Umran Malik.
With Kane Williamson and Tim Southee rested and Ish Sodi injured, New Zealand acquire Henry Nichols. Her three fast bowlers were Rocky Ferguson, Henry Shipley and Blair Tickner, with Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell doing the spin work. Darryl Mitchell was an all-rounder. Both had depth in both divisions as five frontline bowlers and Mitchell backed them up and Shipley batted at number 9.
India 1 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand 1 Finn Allen, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Henry Nicholls, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (capt. & wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Michael Bracewell, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Henry Shipley, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Blair Tickner