India captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat against New Zealand at Green Park, Kanpur in the first Test of the two-match series on November 25. Since the Green Park wicket serves well to the batter in the first three days, it was a no-brainer from the Indian captain.

“Looking to bat first. 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,” Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane said after winning the toss.

Rahane said that they are going with three spinners and two seamers – Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav – in the match.

“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,” New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said.

Playing XI (from):

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell(w), Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Kyle Jamieson, William Somerville

India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav

Pitch Report

“Last time a Test match was played here was five years ago. It was India-New Zealand back then as well. Looks very similar to the one last five years. Bereft of grass. We can see cracks opening up. It will be good for batting early on, but those cracks will open up. Maybe play up and down later on,” Simon Doull and Deep Dasgupta said.

“The cracks are prominent already and the edges are wobbly. Ball will turn and looks abrasive as well, so reverse swing will come into play as well. I like this concept of home series, home pitch. You turn in New Zealand it looks very green. You come here this is what you expect. So players have got to adapt,” both the commentators added.