India win toss and bat against New Zealand in World Cup semi amid Mumbai pitch controversy

India’s Virat Kohli bats at the nets during a practice session at the Wankhede Cricket Stadium in Mumbai

India won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand In their Cricket World Cup semi-final, following controversy about the pitch that will be used for the clash.. Seen here: India’s Virat Kohli during a net session. Picture: Punit Paranjpe/AFP

Published Nov 15, 2023

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India won the toss and chose to bat first against New Zealand In their Cricket World Cup semi-final in Mumbai on Wednesday.

India did not make any changes to their team.

For New Zealand, they too did not make any changes to their side.

Earlier, there was controversy due to a late pitch switch ahead of the clash.

The pitch (pitch 6) in question has already staged two matches during the tournament, whereas the strip originally intended (pitch 7) for use in the semi-final remains unused.

2019 used fresh pitches

The semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup in 2019 were both played on fresh pitches.

However, the late change is within the rules as stipulated by the ICC in its guidelines.

Teams

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand: 1 Devon Conway, 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Glenn Phillips, 7 Mark Chapman, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Trent Boult