Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 31 (IANS) Vice-captain Axar Patel, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and wrist-spinner Varun Chakravarthy return as India won the toss and elected to bat first against New Zealand in the fifth and final T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium on Saturday.

The match is India’s final international game before the Men’s T20 World Cup begins on February 7. After winning the toss, skipper Suryakumar Yadav also said local lad Sanju Samson retains his place in the playing eleven, which left the capacity crowd overjoyed.

“We were here last night. There were a lot of dew. So we want to test our bowlers if we’re good defending the total. It’s a good wicket. We had a good session last night and the curator said it’s going to play true for the next 40 overs. Don’t worry Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju Samson is playing tonight.

“He’s (Tilak Varma) just taking his time to play a few practice games. He’s been a good player for us. When he comes back, it’s going to be a solid side. But we’re really, really waiting for him.

“We’ve almost covered all the departments, batting, bowling and fielding. But every time you do something, you try and learn something out of it and then take it to the next game,” he said.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said they have four changes to their playing eleven – Finn Allen, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson come back into the playing eleven, replacing Devon Conway, Mark Chapman, Matt Henry and Zak Foulkes.

“Little more wind here. Another opportunity to bowl first. It might not be too dewy tonight. It is always nice to have those four players back and it is an opportunity to see what they have got.”

Through Saturday’s game, Nitin Menon has also become the first Indian on-field umpire to officiate in 150 international matches.

Playing XIs

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy and Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (captain), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, and Jacob Duffy

–IANS

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