Ahmedabad: Like in the semifinal, Team India have been asked to bat first in the T20 World Cup final.
Mitchell Santner called correctly at the toss and had no hesitation to chase.
It suited the men in blue, as Suryakumar Yadav aka SKY said he would have chosen to bat first.
“We were looking to bat first.. we did it in the last game also.. very happy,” Surya told toss presenter Ravi Shastri.
All eyes were on the team selection, especially considering opener Abhishek Sharma and spinner Varun Chakravarthy have not been in the best of form. However, both Abhishek and Varun have been retained in the playing XI as India go into the final with the same team that beat England by 7 runs in a high-scoring semifinal at Wankhede Stadium.
New Zealand effected one change from the semifinal thrashing of South Africa, bringing in medium-pacer Jacob Duffy in place of spinner Cole McConchie.
India are eyeing double history – first team to retain the T20 World Cup and also lift the coveted trophy at home.
World Test Championship winners New Zealand, on the other hand, have never emerged supreme in a white-ball World Cup.
PLAYING XIs
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryll Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson.
