Napier ODI: India to Bowl First Against Black Caps
New Zealand won the toss and asked India to bowl in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the McLean Park in Napier.
Napier [New Zealand], Jan 23 (ANI): New Zealand won the toss and asked India to bowl in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the McLean Park in Napier.Following the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said the team is balanced, and confident of its abilities. It is going to be a competitive series as New Zealand play in the right spirit, that is why they have won the ICC spirit of cricket award," he added."Our motivation to play the game and win games for the country remains the same. I guess against New Zealand, you are not going to have too many instances of players going at each other but we know they will be positive," Kohli said."The bowlers have played a bigger role than the batsmen in the last 20 months. It has become a batsman's game but we know as cricketers who wins you the Test matches and the crucial one-day games as well. We within the group always give them credit with batters being in the public eye all the time," he added.New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, on the other hand, said the surface looks good to put up a big total. "India are a very good chasing side but we wanted to get runs on the board and I am sure the surface will be good throughout," he said."One spinner - Mitch Santner comes back from injury, really exciting for him. Also, Doug Bracewell is playing as well. Nice to have a seam-bowling all-rounder in Bracewell, helps with our balance. We want to touch on all areas and keep improving. Fielding was something we did not think was on par in our last series, so it is about improving all the time. We are all looking forward to the series, will be played in the right spirit," Williamson added.Following are the playing XI:India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(capt), MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed ShamiNew Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Latham (wk), Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult. At the time of filing this copy, New Zealand were at 18 for the loss of 2 wickets in 4 overs. (ANI)
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