India will bowl first in the second T20I against New Zealand after Suryakumar Yadav won the toss under early-evening dew in Raipur. The same conditions persuaded Mitchell Santner that he, too, would have preferred to chase.
Two changes for India were confirmed moments later. Axar Patel’s bruised finger, picked up in Nagpur, meant a forced reshuffle, while Jasprit Bumrah was handed a planned rest. Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav returns, and 22-year-old fast-bowler-all-rounder Harshit Rana makes his first appearance of the series, providing a handy No. 8 batting option.
New Zealand responded with three switches of their own. Tim Seifert replaces Tim Robinson at the top, seamer Zak Foulkes comes in for Kristian Clarke, and the experienced Matt Henry slots in for Kyle Jamieson.
Tonight is India’s 100th home T20I but only the second international match at this venue. The square boundaries are a tidy 68 metres; straight down the ground measures 75 metres—numbers suggesting spin might still have a role despite the dew.
India lead the five-match contest 1-0.
India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), Matt Henry, Zak Foulkes, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.
Series standing: India 1, New Zealand 0 with three to play.
