KL Rahul dropped as India ring in three changes for Pune Test vs New Zealand

Rohit Sharma and Tom Latham walked out for the toss as a pleasant morning welcomed the two sides in Pune. New Zealand come into the game after winning their 1st Test in India for 36 years. The Kiwis had won the first Test in Bengaluru by 8 wickets last weekend to take 1-0 lead in the series. 

It was Tom Latham who won the toss and chose to bat first to make use of the fresh pitch in Pune. Matt Henry who had picked a fifer in Bengaluru in the first innings was out due to a niggle. All-rounder Mitchell Santner came into the team to replace the right-arm pacer. 

India made three changes to their side from the last game in Bengaluru. KL Rahul was dropped for his poor performances as Shubman Gill came back into the side. Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav made way for pacer Akash Deep and Washington Sundar. 

Team India looking to make strong comeback into the series 

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma mentioned that he would have batted first as well after losing the toss. The 37-year-old said “When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn't go our way.” India's skipper was hinting at his team getting bowled out for 46 on the opening session of the first Test in Bengaluru.

India’s skipper also added “But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. Always want to find ways to get back into the Test match when you're behind. That's what we did. Pitch is a little drier, yes. We do understand how important the first 10 overs are”

New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said “We're going to have a bat. Surface slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. Might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world. Obviously a really proud moment for this group. We celebrated that but our focus has quickly turned to Pune here. It's just about adapting to this surface. Trying to take the confidence we built up from last week”

India XI - Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(Captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand XI - Tom Latham(Captain), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William Orourke