ndian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl in the first Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park on Wednesday.
After securing its first limited-overs series victory in New Zealand, India are now seeking their first Test series win in the country in 41 years. wicket but if there is going to be anything in it, it will probably be in the first couple of hours or first half session," Dhoni said. "We want to give our bowlers the best chance to get them out because the pitch will get better to bat on.
"The best time to bowl for the seamers is when the wicket is fresh."
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori was happy to bat first, saying he would have chosen to do so had he won the toss.
"We know it's going to do a bit early one but once you get through that it's a good batting deck," he said. There are so many ways of looking at it but we decided to back our batsman. There's maybe a little bit there but if we get out and do a bit with the bat, maybe we can nullify that."
New Zealand omitted uncapped seamer Brent Arnel and spinner Jeetan Patel from its match lineup, restoring Chris Martin as the spearhead of its bowling attack.
India won the five-match limited-overs series 3-1, losing the last match and splitting a match that was washed out.
