Big picture – India looks to continue the WTC march
At the start of their domestic season, India needed seven wins from the remaining ten Tests to put beyond doubt their place in the finals of the World Test Championship (WTC). In some cases, even five wins can be enough. With five Tests in Australia, India wanted to go there with a minimum of five wins left in the bag.
Rain and poor conditions in Kanpur threatened to deny them one of those wickets, but an impressive batting style produced a win there. They faced a similar situation when they started the three-Test series against New Zealand in Bengaluru, where rain disrupted the teams’ preparations, and threatened to have a major impact on the Test.
Former world Test champions New Zealand will want to prove foolhardy to think that rain threatens to cost India some points as it did to Bangladesh in Kanpur, but the reality is that there is not much separating New Zealand from Bangladesh in the WTC points table. They won only 37.5% of the points they conceded, almost half of India’s points. The bad thing is that it is far away from home and they are beaten 2-0 by Sri Lanka, which is just one of the challenges they can expect from India, who are on a six-game winning streak. New Zealand will have to start this challenge without the services of Kane Williamson, who is racing against time to be fit for the second Test.
Then again, the rain gives New Zealand a chance. If he concedes at the top and leaves the field sweating, it would be beneficial to put the opposition in a position that has never happened three times in a row in India. If they can cash in that window, they have a chance in the Test, but equally, India will be responsible in any situation because they may have a better pace attack in the absence of Mohammed Shami. In fact, they might enjoy the seaming conditions as they also have one eye on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
India WWWWW (completed matches, most recent)
New Zealand LLLLW
Highlights – Virat Kohli and Tim Southee
It can be difficult to judge there Virat KohliThe game is still there because everything around him is always high – be it hope or hopelessness. India haven’t played much Test cricket in the past, but Kohli has two centuries in his last eight Tests. However, before that, he had endured a long dry spell. Now people want to know how he is doing in view of the big series in Australia at the end of the year. At his home ground of the IPL, the venue where he led India to a Test victory against Australia in 2017, Kohli must be the center of attention.
Kohli’s rival in his under-19 days, Tim Southee was the captain of New Zealand almost two days ago. He went down with a 6-6-2 record, but after a whitewash in Sri Lanka. Eighteen wickets short of 400 wickets, Southee continues to remain an integral part of New Zealand’s attack, particularly in India, where he can use his experience to keep things going even when conditions don’t help. He has taken five wickets in two of his last three tours here – one in a cloudy Bengaluru in 2012, and another in dry Kanpur in 2021, which shows his versatility, something New Zealand will desperately need to stay competitive.
Early intelligence suggests that India may return to the track of calling three spinners after the Bangladesh series, where they played three quicks in both Tests and the team that won the toss chose to play either over. . However, poor weather ahead of the Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru may produce seam-friendly conditions. The weather is likely to play spoilsport in this game, with the first two days being the most affected. However, the water bodies in Bengaluru are as good as any.
Shubman Gill has a strong neck, which can solve the set batting line-up. If he doesn’t wake up ready to play, Gill’s place may be taken by Sarfaraz Khan in the XI and KL Rahul at number 3. The question for them is whether to include an extra spinner or a third fast spinner. It may ultimately come down to how much rain leads to the dump and what the conditions are like at the time.
India (approx.): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill/Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Akash Deep/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
Mark Chapman is Williamson’s backup in the New Zealand team, but Will Young has taken his place. Mitchell Santner will be under pressure to retain his place after being bowled out for 197 and dismissed by Glenn Phillips in Sri Lanka.
New Zealand (possible): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Tom Latham (capt), 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner/Michael Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Will O’Rourke
“No matter who the opposition is, the important thing for us is to be the best version of ourselves. So we will focus on how we can do better than what we did in the last series.”
Indian captain Rohit Sharma he wants his players to continue to improve
“Obviously the wicket has been under the covers for a long time, and it’s not as hot as we would expect here, that can make the fast bowlers play. We had a little look at the last game. That was played here maybe a month ago and I think the seam took a lot of wickets. “
New Zealand captain Tom Latham he expects the fast bowlers to come in
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