Revealed: Why is Mitchell Santner not playing today's match vs India and who has replaced him?

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner is not a part of New Zealand's Playing XI for the third Test of the three-match Test series against India. Santner has been replaced by the leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who is playing his first match of the series.

Santner's unavailability is a big blow for New Zealand considering he was the Player of the Match in the second Test at Pune. He picked up 13 wickets in the match, which was also his best ever in Test cricket.

Also read: Revealed: Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing today's match vs New Zealand and who has replaced him?

Why is Mitchell Santner not playing IND vs NZ 3rd Test

New Zealand captain Tom Latham revealed the reason behind Mitchell Santner's unavailability at the toss. Santner has a side strain, which has kept him out of this match. "Mitch Santner has got a little bit of a side strain," Latham said at the toss.

With Santner unavailable, New Zealand's bowlers will have a big task at hands against India's batting line-up. The left-arm spinner was easily the pick of the bowlers at Pune with figures of 13-157.

The eyes will be on Ish Sodhi now and it will be interesting to see how the Indian batters face his variations in this match. Sodhi has troubled India in the past but will be bowling to some of the Indian batters for the first time here.

Mitchell Santner's match-winning performance in Pune

Mitchell Santner's career best figures helped New Zealand script history at Pune as they clinched their first ever Test series win in India. New Zealand also became the first team to defeat India in 12 years on Indian soil.

With New Zealand's win in Pune, India's long streak of 18 consecutive Test series wins at home was also broken. It was a shocking defeat for a team which has been close to invincible over the years.

Mitchell Santner did not get a chance in the first Test at Bengaluru because of the seamer-friendly conditions on offer. But a dry pitch at Pune forced New Zealand to look at the spin-bowlng allrounder. While Santner picked up 13 wickets in the match, he also scored a crucial 33 in the first innings.

New Zealand bat first in Mumbai

Meawhile, New Zealand's skipper Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bat first at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. New Zealand made two changes to their Playing XI from Pune Test. Ish Sodhi replaced Mitchell Santner while Matt Henry replaced Tim Southee.

On the other side, India made one change as well. Mohammed Siraj, who missed the second Test at Pune, replaced Jasprit Bumrah as the only change. Akash Deep keeps his place in the Playing XI.

While New Zealand will be aiming for a clean-sweep, India will be looking to salvage some pride by winning in Mumbai. Both the teams will know that they have some crucial World Test Championship (WTC) points at stake and will not treat this game as a dead-rubber.