The first session was wiped out and 78 overs are scheduled today, weather and light permitting
Toss India opt to bat vs New Zealand
New Zealand, too, were depleted after their regular captain Kane Williamson was ruled out with elbow injury.
Rahane was sidelined with a hamstring strain sustained while fielding on the final day of the Kanpur Test while Ishant had dislocated his finger in the same match. As for Jadeja, Kohli said the allrounder “couldn’t pick up the bat” because of a swollen arm.
The elbow has been a long-standing issue for Williamson in recent times and it most recently flared up in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup in the UAE. According to New Zealand head coach Gary Stead, it flared up again now and could put him out of action for a “substantial period.”
Seventy-eight overs are scheduled to be bowled today, weather and light permitting.
India: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Jayant Yadav, 9 Axar Patel, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: 1 Will Young, 2 Tom Latham (capt), 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Henry Nicholls, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Rachin Ravindra, 8 Kyle Jamieson, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Will Somerville, 11 Ajaz Patel
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo