India opt to bowl against NZ in second ODI

Indian captain Rohit Sharma with head coach Rahul Dravid and batting coach Vikram Rathour during a practice session.Pic/PTI

India captain Rohit Sharma elected to bowl after winning the toss against New Zealand in the second ODI of the three-match series here on Saturday.

Both India and New Zealand retained the playing XIs of the first ODI.

India leads the series after winning the first ODI by 12 runs in Hyderabad.

India brought Shardul Thakur into the team at the expense of the super quick Umran Malik considering his batting abilities. But the management needs to decide quickly if it wants a bowler, who can bat or a specialist, who can rattle the opposition with extra pace and get wickets in the middle overs.

Siraj has developed into an all phase bowler but others need to step up. Mohammed Shami was brilliant with the new ball but was taken to the cleaners by Bracewell. Hardik too was expensive.

Also read: Why did Rohit do it?

India would also be aiming to get their overs completed in time after being fined 60 per cent of its match fee for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first ODI in Hyderabad.

Javagal Srinath of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after India were ruled to be three overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration for Wednesday's series opener.

Teams:

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

New Zealand: Tom Latham (c and wk), Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner. ( With input from agency)