India win toss to bat first against New Zealand

Ahmedabad : India chose to bat first after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won toss at first Test against New Zealand at the Sardar Patel Gujarat Stadium in Motera on Thursday.

Batsmen V V S Laxman and Gautam Gambhir got back into the side after they were declared fit. They did not play the second and final Test against Australia in
Bangalore, last month.

Strike bowler S Sreesanth retained in his place but lanky Ishant Sharma of Delhi was left out again like previous play.

The visitors left out their batsman Martin Guptill and took young Kane Williamson and quick bowler Hamish Bennett in an attempt to make benefit in the first match.
Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman, Suresh Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, and S Sreesanth.

New Zealand: B McCullum, T McIntosh, B Watling, R Taylor, J Ryder, K Williamson, D Vettori, G Hopkins, J Patel, H Bennett, C Martin.