India Stick With Winning Combination as New Zealand Make Three Changes for Third T20I

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first against New Zealand in the third T20I at Hnry Stadium in Wellington on Tuesday, with the visitors retaining their playing XI while the hosts made three changes to manage their fast bowlers' workload.

India made no changes to the side, continuing with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at No. 3. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan remained unavailable as he continues to recover from a groin injury.

New Zealand, meanwhile, reshuffled their pace attack ahead of the upcoming ODI and Test matches against India. Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson were rested due to injury concerns, while Nathan Smith was left out. Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne were brought into the playing XI.

Explaining India's decision to field first, Iyer said adapting quickly to the conditions and ground dimensions would be crucial, as Wellington presents a different challenge from the venues in the earlier matches.

"We are going to bowl. Certain aspects we definitely need to keep improving. The dimensions and conditions are different, so the quicker we adapt, the better for us. A lot of players are pretty mature to understand when they are not starting. Same team for us," Iyer said at the toss.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner also expected favourable batting conditions, while pointing to the differences in the ground dimensions. He stressed that his team would need to maintain its intensity against a strong Indian side.

"Looks like another good wicket, some pace and bounce. There is no wind, which is nice. The dimensions are slightly different to where we have come from. We know India are a great side; you can't let your foot off the gas," Santner said.

He confirmed the three changes, with Fisher, Jamieson and Milne replacing Henry, Ferguson and Smith.

The toss decision puts the focus on India's bowling attack, which will look to exploit any early assistance from the surface before the hosts build their innings. For New Zealand, the return of experienced pace options Jamieson and Milne provides an opportunity to strengthen the attack while managing workloads across the longer-format fixtures.

Playing XIs

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.

India: Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.