India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first against New Zealand in the second T20I at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Prince Yadav have been included in the Indian playing XI as the visitors look to extend their lead in the five-match series.

India head into the contest with a 1-0 advantage after pulling off a record-breaking chase in the series opener. The Men in Blue chased down New Zealand’s target of 226 runs in Christchurch, registering their highest successful run chase in men’s T20I cricket and securing a four-wicket victory with two balls to spare.

Teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gets an opportunity to feature in the playing XI after missing the series opener. His inclusion adds another attacking option to India's batting line-up as the visitors aim to maintain their momentum.

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The change comes after wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the second T20I due to a low-grade right adductor strain sustained during the first match.

Captain's At Toss

Shreyas Iyer (India): "We're going to bowl first. Dew is one of the reasons. It's been good, some time to recover and catch up on sleep. Everyone is in good shape and space. It's important to maintain aggression, but we need to be proactive and ensure we don't need an extra fielder inside. Two changes: Ishan is injured, Vaibhav is in and he'll bat at 3. Prince is in place of Mayank - a tactical change."

Mitchell Santner (New Zealand): "We know we are a good team; even though we were a bit off the ball, we still fought hard and had a great match. Yesterday was just a refresh day. Duffy is in for Milne, that's the only change - just a bit of rotation for the seamers with a lot of Test cricket coming up."

Pitch Conditions

Simon Doull and Stephen Fleming described the Christchurch pitch as a brown surface with a good covering of grass, offering a potentially interesting contest between bat and ball. The match is being played on the same surface used on Thursday night, with boundaries measuring 77 metres straight down the ground, 69 metres towards the west and 78 metres towards the right for right-handed batters.

Fleming pointed out indentations and uneven patches in the grass, suggesting that bowlers could benefit from targeting good lengths and looking for movement. He felt New Zealand's bowlers had been slightly short in the previous game and stressed the importance of bowling fuller deliveries despite the risk of being hit down the ground.

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India (Playing XI)

Sanju Samson(w), 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(w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson