IND vs NZ: Harshal Patel makes India debut, receives cap from Ajit Agarkar; Watch

Former India bowling all-rounder Ajit Agarkar has handed Royal Challengers Bangalore fast bowler, Harshal Patel, his maiden international cap ahead of India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I game in Ranchi.

The RCB pacer has been rewarded for his consistency and was in fine form during the IPL 2021 earlier this year, ending as the highest wicket-taker in the competition with 32 scalps under his belt. The pacer will replace Mohammed Siraj in the XI after his fellow RCB mate injured his finger during the final over of the New Zealand innings in Jaipur. 

Post his retirement from international cricket,  Ajit Agarkar is seen donning the commentators' hat and he also appears as an analyst on multiple shows.

India has made no other change to the XI, and have elected to bowl first upon winning the toss. 

India vs New Zealand: Staring XIs

New Zealand XI: Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne, Trent Boult

India XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Image: Twitter/BCCI