Shubman Gill opts to bowl, Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav omitted as India go with four pacers against New Zealand

Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav (Image Agency) India won the toss and opted to bat first in the opening ODI against New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday. Captain Shubman Gill confirmed that India opted for a quick attack as they went with four fast bowlers and two all-rounders.Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav have been left out of the playing XI as India look to take advantage of the conditions in Auckland. Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh and Naman Dhir are among the players who feature in the Indian combination, with Axar Patel providing the other all-rounder option.Explaining his toss decision, Gill said: “We’re going to bowl first. A bit under a cloud, if there’s any reduction in overs, it’s always good to have a target on the board.”

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Gill also highlighted the importance of the series in India’s preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.“Extremely important, I would say. The conditions we get here would be much more similar to South Africa than other parts of the world. So it will be a really good experience for us from that point of view,” he said.New Zealand, meanwhile, made a change at the top of the order, with Tim Seifert coming in for Devon Conway, who is recovering from a head knock he suffered in training.Captain Mitchell Santner confirmed Conway is making progress but will sit out the opening clash.“Conway is doing well. He obviously had a bit of a knock on the head yesterday. So he’s just going to rest and obviously not play today,” Santner said.Seifert will open alongside Will Young while Henry Nicholls completes New Zealand’s top three.Santner also pointed to the opportunities created by the team’s rotation in a demanding international schedule.“With the rosters on both teams, it’s been a little more rotation than it probably normally would be. But like I said, it gives guys opportunities,” he said.The toss was delayed by 20 minutes and finally took place at 2:50 PM local time (7:20 AM IST). The live action will begin at 15:10 local time, 10 minutes later than the scheduled start.

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Share an opinionTeams:New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(f), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair TicknerIndia (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh