KL Rahul not playing: India have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI in this dead-rubber against New Zealand.
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During the third T20I of the ongoing New Zealand’s tour of India in Kolkata, India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bat. Having elected to field in the first two matches, Sharma has challenged himself and his team in this dead-rubber.
“We are going to bat first. Pitch looks a little sticky and we want to challenge ourselves as a batting unit. We gotta try various things and this is one of them. We want to put runs on the board and give the new set of bowlers a target to defend,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.
New Zealand pacer Tim Southee, who had led them in the first two T20Is, has been rested tonight. While all-rounder Mitchell Santner has been handed the responsibility of leading the team at the Eden Gardens, pacer Lockie Ferguson has replaced Southee in the XI.
“Last few games, it has been wet because of the dew. There has been dew throughout. Whatever we do we have to do it well. We have been close, lost a couple of phases especially in the last game during the middle with the bat, we got off to a great start,” Santner told Star Sports at the toss.
Why is KL Rahul not playing vs New Zealand?
Being asked about the changes made to their Playing XI, Sharma confirmed that they’ve rested vice-captain Lokesh Rahul and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in a bid to give opportunities to batter Ishan Kishan and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.
“KL [Rahul] and [Ravichandran] Ashwin are rested. Ishan [Kishan] and [Yuzvendra] Chahal come in. We are very clear as to what we want to do that’s why Ishan has to wait for his opportunity. Chahal as well, he has been a champion bowler for us,” Sharma said.
While Kishan is playing his first T20I since India’s ICC T20 World Cup 2021 loss to New Zealand last month, Chahal is playing international cricket for the first time since India’s tour of Sri Lanka in July.
