Axar ruled out due to injury, Bumrah rested as India opt to field against New Zealand in Raipur

Vice-captain Axar Patel sat out due to injury while pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was rested as India opted to field in the second T20I against New Zealand in Raipur on Friday. Left-arm finger spinner Axar was replaced by left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav while Harshit Rana, who enjoyed a successful run with bat as well as with ball during the ODI series against the Black Caps, came in for Bumrah.

LIVE | India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I in Raipur

New Zealand made three changes to their lineup, bringing Tim Seifert, Zak Foulkes and Matt Henry in replace of Tim Robinson, Kristian Clarke and Kyle Jamieson respectively. Clarke had made his international debut in the three-match ODI series and received his maiden T20I cap in Nagpur on Wednesday.

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Men in Blue aim to go 2-0 up in Raipur after clinical performance in Nagpur

India currently lead the five-match T20I series 1-0 after their clinical performance in the series opener at Nagpur’s VCA Stadium on Wednesday. Abhishek Sharma had starred in their victory with a blistering 84 off 35 balls while Rinku Singh enjoyed a successful return to the Indian team with an unbeaten 44 off 20 balls, helping the hosts post a mammoth 238/7 on the board – the biggest total against the Kiwis in the format.

Despite Glenn Phillips’ explosive 78 off 40 balls, Santner and Co couldn’t quite recover from a disastrous start in which they lost their first two wickets in the first two overs with just one run on the board, falling short of the target by a considerable distance in the end.

The ongoing series serves as a dress rehearsal for both teams as it’s their final assignment in the 20-over format before the T20 World Cup, in which the Men in Blue will be entering as the defending champions.

India vs New Zealand, 2nd T20I Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Tim Seifert(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.