"Exciting, intelligent and effective" - Twitter praises Harshal Patel following India debut in 2nd T20I vs New Zealand

Harshal Patel got his maiden international cap as India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field in the second T20 International (T20I) against New Zealand in Ranchi.

Patel replaced his Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate Mohammed Siraj in the playing XI and is set to make his debut for India. Harshal Patel received his debut cap from former India pacer Ajit Agarkar.

New Zealand made three changes to their side from the first T20I, with Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi and Jimmy Neesham all coming into the playing XI in place of Lockie Ferguson, Rachin Ravindra and Todd Astle.

India had won the first T20I by five wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Here are the playing XIs:

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (c), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Venkatesh Iyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Harshal Patel

New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Daryl Mitchell, 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Tim Seifert (wk), 6 James Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Tim Southee (c), 9 Trent Boult, 10 Adam Milne, 11 Ish Sodhi

Tim Southee is leading New Zealand in the absence of Kane Williamson, who has been rested for the series.

Meanwhile, Siraj missed out for India after picking up an injury during the first match. He hurt his left hand trying to stop a ball hit back towards him by the batter in the first T20I.

Twitter congratulates Harshal Patel for India debut

Harshal Patel was picked for the squad against New Zealand after a stellar season in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In IPL 2021, he took 32 wickets to win the Purple Cap and equalled Dwayne Bravo's record of most wickets in a season.

Congratulations poured in for Harshal Patel after he was named in India's playing XI.

Here are the best reactions: