Sooryavanshi recalled to India XI in Christchurch, named at No. 3

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi returned to India’s playing XI for the second T20I against New Zealand in Christchurch on Saturday and will bat at number three. India won the toss and opted to field, with captain Shreyas Iyer citing dew as one of the reasons for the decision.

Sooryavanshi was drafted into the side in place of the injured Ishan Kishan, and Iyer confirmed his batting position at the toss. Despite the inclusion, India kept the same opening pair, while Prince was selected for Mayank in what the team described as a tactical change.

Iyer said the team had recovered well after the opening game and wanted to maintain its aggression while improving its fielding, particularly in the final over.

New Zealand made one alteration to their XI, bringing Jacob Duffy in for Adam Milne as captain Mitchell Santner rotated his seamers with a busy Test schedule coming up.

India’s Playing XI: Sanju Samson(WK), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer(C), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

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

Sooryavanshi will begin the match at number three rather than as an opener, and the second T20I in Christchurch will be played with the lineups named above.