Pune, October 24 New Zealand won the toss and chose to bat first in the second Test at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on Thursday. Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, and Shubman Gill were added to India’s starting eleven.

The first Test was won by New Zealand by eight wickets, so India wants to get back on track and tie the series. On the other hand, New Zealand is trying to do something that hasn’t been done since 2012: win a Test series in India. They are presently ahead 1-0 in the series.

Tom Latham, the captain of New Zealand, said that pacer Matt Henry will not play because of a sore glute. Mitchell Santner, a left-arm spinner, will take his place in the starting eleven. “Surface is a little different from last week.” There isn’t much grass. It could make things a little strange, which is what we expect when we visit these parts of the world.

“This must be a very proud moment for this group.” We were happy about that, but now our attention is quickly shifting to Pune. It’s just about getting used to this surface. Our goal is to build on the trust we gained last week.

India wants to keep their home series winning streak going, so they have brought in Akash, Washington, and Shubman instead of Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, and Kuldeep Yadav. Shubman missed the Bengaluru Test because his neck was stiff.

Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, said that he would have played first too if he had won the toss. “The first session didn’t go our way in that kind of Test match.” We did well at bat in the second innings, though. That gave us a lot of good things to think about as we try to make things better here.

“Always try to find ways to get back into a Test match after falling behind.” That’s what we did. There is a little less pitch, yes. He said, “We know how important the first 10 overs are.”

XIs in play

They have Yashasvi Jaiswal as captain, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, and Jasprit Bumrah.

This is New Zealand’s team: Devon Conway (captain), Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, and William O’Rourke.