Nagpur, March 15 (IANS) New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and decided to bat first in the opening match of the World Twenty20 against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium here on Tuesday.
New Zealand will take heart from the fact that they have never been beaten by India in the shortest format of the game and will aim to keep their record intact in this Super 10 Group 2 game.
The Kiwis have decided to leave out Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan and Henry Nicholls from their line-up.
"It is a dry surface and we will make first use of it and then use our spinners. We have had a few days preparation in Mumbai, hopefully we will make those adjustments with regards to the turn and get a good first innings total. It is a transition period for us and hopefully the guys will adapt," Williamson said.
India, meanwhile, left Pawan Negi, Harbhajan Singh and Ajinkya Rahane on the bench.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was not too worried about losing the toss and asserted that the hosts will be able to deal with the pressure.
"It is a 50-50 call. Reason being the wicket looks good and as the game progresses it won't change much. You never play a game for India without pressure. That is the beauty of playing for India. I haven't played a game since 2004 for India without pressure. That is part and parcel of the game and we guys are used to it," he said.
Teams:
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Nathan McCullum, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi.
