Indian skipper MS Dhoni has won the toss and opted to win the toss in the first test match against New Zealand at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday (23-08-12).

Team India is playing test matches after a long gap of seven months. The previous two series played in Australia and England was humiliating as India lost 4-0 to England and suffered test series whitewash against Australia too.

India has slipped to the 5th spot in the ICC test team rankings in less than a year's time. New Zealand are back from a  disappointing tour in the West Indies where they lost the ODI and test series.

Squads :

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Umesh Yadav.

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (Capt.), Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Flynn, Kane Williamson, James Franklin, Kruger van Wyk, Doug Bracewell, Jeetan Patel, Chris Martin, Trent Boult.

Tags: India choose to bat against New Zealand in first test | India test squad 2012 | India vs New Zealand 2012 1st test Day 1 | India vs New Zealand 2012 First test | New Zealand Test squad 2012