Vaibhav Sooryavanshi makes India XI at No. 3 for second New Zealand T20I

Sooryavanshi enters the XI, but will not open

India have handed 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi a place in the team for the second T20 International against New Zealand, with captain Shreyas Iyer confirming at the toss that the youngster will bat at No. 3. India will retain Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as their opening pair.

India won the toss and elected to bowl first. Iyer said the possibility of dew factored into the decision and urged his side to maintain the aggressive approach that had served them in the opening match.

“It is important to maintain the aggression and repeat the things we did well in the first game,” Iyer said.

India made two changes: Sooryavanshi replaced the injured Ishan Kishan, while Prince Yadav came in for Mayank Yadav in what Iyer described as a tactical change. The captain also pointed to fielding discipline as an area to sharpen, particularly in the closing overs, saying India needed to avoid having an extra fielder inside the circle in the final over.

New Zealand rotate Duffy in

New Zealand made one change, bringing Jacob Duffy in for Adam Milne. Captain Mitchell Santner said the switch was part of a rotation plan amid a crowded schedule and was not a response to Milne’s performance.

“It is nothing to do with performance; it is just a bit of rotation, and we will see what Duffy can do tonight,” Santner said.

Santner said New Zealand took positives from the first T20I despite losing in the final over, but needed to execute the small details better. He added that training had been optional after the team returned to its hotel around 2 a.m., giving players time to recover before the match.

Playing XIs

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson.