After a rain delay lasting two-and-a-half hours, the Greenfield International Stadium's first international game got underway as an eight-overs-a-side shootout, with Kane Williamson, the New Zealand captain, deciding to bowl first in the series decider.
He said he based his decision over the lack of certainty as to how the surface would play. Virat Kohli, India's captain, said he would have liked to bowl too, and expected some early moisture.
The Powerplay will last two overs, and four bowlers can bowl two overs each.
India made two changes, strengthening their batting by bringing in Manish Pandey at the expense of third seamer Mohammed Siraj and replacing the fingerspin of Axar Patel with the wristspin of Kuldeep Yadav.
New Zealand made just one forced change, with the unwell Adam Milne making way for Tim Southee.
India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Bruce, Glenn Phillips (wk), Henry Nicholls, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi
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