Indian captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field, with veteran batter KL Rahul presenting the debut cap to Nabi prior to the toss. Nabi, who spearheaded Jammu & Kashmir to their maiden Ranji Trophy title earlier this year with 60 wickets—accumulating 104 total wickets over the past two domestic seasons—replaces Nitish Kumar Reddy in the playing XI to bolster India's new-ball swing attack alongside Prasidh Krishna. The right-arm seam bowler had previously earned a call-up for India's Test series against Sri Lanka in August following Jasprit Bumrah's injury, though he did not feature in the playing XI. India leads the three-match ODI series 1-0 following an eight-wicket victory in the opening fixture, propelled by centuries from Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli alongside a four-wicket haul by Kuldeep Yadav.