Nagpur (Maharashtra) [India], January 21 (ANI): New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss and decided to field first against Team India in the first T20I of the five-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Wednesday.

The five-match T20I series between India and New Zealand will help both countries prepare for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, starting next month in India and Sri Lanka.

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Santner said it is a good wicket and they will try to take advantage early.

"Looks like a good wicket, will see if it does anything early. Last week was special. It's a new series, great prep for the World Cup. All have been playing, be it for the national side or franchises. Three seamers - Clarke to debut, Jamieson and Duffy. There are many spinners. Bracewell still has a calf niggle," Santner said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

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India captain Suryakumar said Shreyas, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav are missing out. "We were looking to play, and there was a bit of dew at 8:30pm (yesterday). We've been doing a lot right, and the atmosphere is positive in the dressing room. Shreyas, Harshit, Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep are the ones from the squad missing out."

Teams: New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Robinson, Devon Conway(w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy. India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah. (ANI)

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