India vs New Zealand 2020-21: Ajinkya Rahane opts to bat in Kanpur Test, Shreyas Iyer makes his debut

India and New Zealand are locking horns in the opening Test in Kanpur from Thursday. Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat, while Shreyas Iyer is making his Test debut.

The opening Test of the two-Test series between India and New Zealand is being held at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur from Thursday. Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane has won the toss and opted to bat on a track that is expected to get slower with each passing day. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer is making his Test debut.

During the toss, Rahane noted that the side is super hyped to play under the new coaching staff, headed by Rahul Dravid, while he personally enjoyed playing under the new head coach. He also lauded NZ for being a quality side, and most importantly, being the defending champion of the ICC World Test Championship. As for the team, he went ahead with a couple of seamers and three spinners.

On the other hand, Kiwi captain Kane Williamson said, "We would have batted first as well. We are looking forward to this challenge. It's mixed, but it's okay. Ajaz Patel and Somerville have done well. We are going in with two spinners, two pacers and a spinning all-rounder debut in Rachin Ravindra."

Playing XI
IND: Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav.
NZ: Tom Latham, Will Young, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, Kyle Jamieson and William Somerville.