India captain Hardik Pandya wins toss, opts to bat against New Zealand in 3rd T20I

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 1 : India captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first against New Zealand in the third and final T20I of three-match series here at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
The three-match T20I series is levelled at 1-1 and the third game will act as the series decider. Hardik Pandya-led Team India defeated New Zealand in a low-scoring second T20I on Sunday. New Zealand are yet to win a bilateral series in India. Across formats. Umran Malik replaced Yuzvendra Chahal for India in the playing XI.
"We're going to bat first. Want to put some runs and take the game from there. Looks like a very good wicket, we played here in the IPL final where the ball did a bit more in the second innings. Tough on the batters in the last two games, but credit to them for the approach they have shown. This is what as a unit we strive for, we are going to get tested but we will learn from it. These kinds of knockout games teach you a lot. One change - Umran comes in for Yuzi," Hardik Pandya said at the time of the toss.
"We were going to bowl first, looks like a good surface either way. Lucknow was a challenging surface, maybe 120 would have done the trick. But we have to adapt. Great experience to play here, it is my first time here. Doesn't get any bigger than this with the series on the line. Both surfaces so far were very different, but today we need the boys to adapt to the bigger boundaries," New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said at the time of toss.
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya(c), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner(c), Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Ben Lister and Blair Tickner.