For India, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested. Sanju Samson will open the innings for the Men in Blue. Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini are the others to be roped into the final XI.
New Zealands Tim Southee bowls during the second Twenty20 cricket match between New Zealand and India at Eden Park in Auckland on January 26, 2020. (Photo by DAVID ROWLAND / AFP)
New Zealand skipper Tim Southee, who is holding the post in the absence of injured Kane Williamson, won the toss and opted to bowl first against India on Friday in the fourth T20I of the five-match series at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
Kane Williamson is out due to shoulder injury and is replaced by Daryl Mitchell in the team. Tom Bruce comes in for Colin de Grandhomme.
Meanwhile, for India, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested. Sanju Samson will open the innings for the Men in Blue. Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini are the others to be roped into the final XI.
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“We are gonna bowl first. Looks a pretty good surface. Hopefully, it sort of skids on later on. Kane’s got a niggle in his shoulder. He dived and fell awkwardly in Seddon Park. I don’t think it’s major. He should be alright in a couple of days. We showed a lot of improvement from the two games at Eden Park. We need to keep improving, keep doing the small things right. It’s just small improvements. Tom Bruce comes in for CdG and Daryl Mitchell comes in for Kane,” said Southee after winning the toss.
India skipper Virat Kohli said: “We would have bowled first as well. We haven’t had a game like that in a while. For us as a side, it was a massive confidence booster. We have rested Rohit, Shami and Jadeja. Samson to open, Washington Sundar and Saini are in. Three exciting additions to the side.”
India have already clinched the series with an unassailable lead of 3-0.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tom Bruce, Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee (captain), Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett, Daryl Mitchell
India: Sanju Samson, Lokesh Rahul (wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini
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