New Zealand vs India Toss (Source: @BCCI/X)
On Sunday, India lost the toss for the first time in India vs New Zealand T20Is. Shreyas Iyer and his boys will bat first, as Mitchell Santner asked the Men in Blue to bat first at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
India recalled Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the IND vs NZ 5th T20I. They also gave a chance to Varun Chakaravarthy, who had not got an opportunity so far in the series. Bhuvneshwar, meanwhile, was in action for the first three T20Is against New Zealand. However, dismal performances with the ball one after another led to him being dropped from India’s playing XI.
They replaced Mayank Yadav and Axar Patel, respectively. New Zealand, on the other hand, made one change, with Blair Tickner coming in to replace Matt Fisher.
India did not give an opportunity to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the IND vs NZ 5th T20I. Sooryavanshi was sidelined during the IND vs NZ 4th T20I as well.
India Vs New Zealand 5th T20I Playing XIs
India XI: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
New Zealand XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner
India Vs New Zealand 5th T20I: Captains' Thoughts
Mitchell Santner: "I just assumed I was going to lose the toss. We'll have a bowl. Yeah, I think obviously a new pitch - looks all right. Usually plays pretty well here.
If it's flat, we're going to have to adapt. [On New Zealand's comeback in the series and their plans for the final T20I] Yeah, I think obviously with the bat we've been good this whole series. And then with the ball, we just adjusted our plans a little bit. There was obviously a little bit more on the wicket the other night, which was nice for the seamers. So I guess if it's something similar again, it usually can get a bit of bounce here at Seddon Park, so hopefully."
Shreyas Iyer: "Yeah, I mean it's a great occasion to come here, especially on this historic ground. And we were looking to bat as well. Absolutely, we wanted to test ourselves by batting first, you know, all the four games we chased. So we wanted to have a feel for how the wicket will play in the first innings.
[On India's plans after the defeat in Auckland] In Auckland, the dimensions were different. Bowlers had slightly different plans against certain batsmen. But also credit where it's due. Phillips played an exceptional knock."
Important to mention that India have already won the five-match T20I series before coming to Seddon Park.
