High on a recent 3-0 whitewash of Bangladesh, India will be looking to continue their dominance in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings, and take advantage of inaugural WTC champions New Zealand’s vulnerabilities in the subcontinent when the two sides face off in the first of the three-Test rubber at the MA Chinnaswamy Stadium here from Wednesday.
Having said that, there are chances of rain interruptions throughout the game, with India’s practice session on the eve of the contest being washed out due to persistent and occasionally heavy rain on Tuesday. The visitors’ session took place in the indoor facility at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Indian Meteorological Department, there are forecasts of rains for the rest of the week, which could seriously impact the Test. There is a 70 to 90 per cent chance of rain on the first and second days of the Test, and a yellow alert has also been issued for many places in the state of Karnataka (of which Bengaluru is a part).
Both India and New Zealand are no strangers to the inclement weather conditions in the subcontinent, as rains had taken away roughly half the playing time of India’s last home Test, in Kanpur against Bangladesh just over two weeks ago, before Rohit Sharma & Co managed to turn things around in their favour with an unprecedented ultra-aggressive batting approach.
As for the BlackCaps, their tour of the subcontinent, that started with a non-WTC Test against Afghanistan, was completely washed out in Greater Noida, last month, leaving the New Zealanders with hardly any preparation for the subsequent tour of Sri Lanka, where they were hammered 2-0 in the two-match Test series.
Contrary to the sub-par drainage facilities in Greater Noida, that jeopardised any chances of play despite the sun coming out sporadically, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has a world-class drainage facility, equipped with a subsurface aeration system, designed to resume action within minutes of the rain ceasing.
Coming to the cricketing part of the Test, the series will provide the perfect stage for India’s veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, to find themselves back among the runs, before embarking on the tour Down Under, next month. Going by their standards, both Rohit and Virat endured a below-par series against Bangladesh, and a decent outing with the bat against the BlackCaps will certainly boost their self-confidence.
Despite lack of runs from the senior pros, possibly on the final laps of their illustrated careers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill ensured that India did not suffer during the transition phase, as the young guns shouldered the responsibility with great maturity. Gill’s last 10 innings are dotted with three hundreds and two fifties, while Jaiswal’s last eight outings in Test cricket feature a 214 and five fifties — the numbers clearly show that the duo is ready to carry the legacy forward.
As such, the three Tests against New Zealand will be equally important for both Gill and Jaiswal to build on the foundation through this series, a precursor to the much tougher tour Down Under next month.
During the Bangladesh series, it was evident that both Gill and Jaiswal have worked on their susceptibilities against quick bowlers, and thus the series against a quality line-up comprising Matt Henry, William O’Rourke and the experienced Tim Southee, could be a great challenge before their Australia sojourn.
Besides the duo, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be expected to add muscle to the Indian batting, that goes deep with the spin-twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, more than capable of wielding their willows in familiar conditions.
On the other hand, New Zealand will be looking to make up for the lost opportunities in Sri Lanka, and work on their vulnerabilities against the spinners during the series. A 2-0 whitewash in the Island nation dipped them to the No.6 spot in the WTC standings, minimising their chances of making it to the WTC final.
If the absence of their most experienced batter Kane Williamson for the first Test has already kept them on the backfoot, the Kiwis were dealt with another blow on Tuesday when their fast bowler Ben Sears ruled out of the series due to a knee injury.
The Kiwi batters struggled copiously against Sri Lankan spinners recently, and here they will have to negate two modern-day greats in Ashwin and Jadeja. Besides the duo, the Kiwis will have to contend with the genius of Jasprit Bumrah, who rattled Bangladesh by picking up 11 wickets across two Tests. If they persist with the combination from the last series, Akash Deep will be the third pacer behind Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
Teams:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Mark Chapman, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Tom Blundell (wk), Ajaz Patel, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, William O’Rourke, Jacob Duffy.