Rohit Sharma & Co seek clean sweep over depleted NZ as three-match Test series starts tomorrow; hosts look to edge closer to their third WTC final
Skipper Rohit Sharma (right) with Yashasvi Jaiswal during a practice session in Bangalore yesterday. Pics/PTI
The last time New Zealand travelled to India for a two-Test series, they kicked off their campaign at Green Park in Kanpur in Rahul Dravid’s first game as national coach, in November 2021, a match they managed to draw as the last pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel kept India at bay for 8.4 overs on the final evening.
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Nearly three years on, the Kiwis are back with Green Park still on their minds, even if they don’t play any of the three Tests in Kanpur. After all, it was here that, late last month, India threw down the gauntlet with one of the most remarkable Test batting displays in recent memory.
Uphill task for New Zealand
India’s pummeling of Bangladesh on Day Four of a Test seemingly destined to meet a watery grave wouldn’t have been lost on the Kiwis, who were well beaten by Sri Lanka in two Tests at Galle in September and who wear an unsettled look with a new captain at the helm.
NZ’s Rachin Ravindra (right) and Michael Bracewell in B’lore yesterday
Tom Latham, the experienced left-hander who has led his country in the past, has been elevated to a full-time leadership role after Tim Southee handed in his resignation following the Lankan whitewash. Southee, the seasoned fast bowler, had a series to forget individually too, with just two wickets from 49 overs, and by stepping down, he has taken a potentially embarrassing selection call away from coach Gary Stead.
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New Zealand’s hopes of scoring their first win in India since November 1988, when they stunned the hosts by 136 runs in Mumbai, were dealt a severe blow last week when former captain and star batsman Kane Williamson was forced to delay his departure due to a groin strain. While it isn’t clear when, or whether, he will join the squad, Williamson is certainly ruled out of the first Test starting at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here, weather permitting, on Wednesday.
Veteran Kane will be missed
Williamson doesn’t have a great record on Indian soil — he averages only 33.53 in eight matches, significantly less than his career average of 51.43 — but the 34-year-old’s expertise and experience will be sorely missed by the winners of the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, languishing in sixth position on the points table.
India, who lost to the Kiwis in that final in Southampton, are firmly atop the WTC table and will all but formalise their entry into the title round for a third successive cycle if they pull off a 3-0 sweep. Given their outstanding home record — 42 wins and just four losses since the start of 2013 — and the wealth of riches at their disposal, that isn’t a fanciful scoreline, though New Zealand are least likely to roll over and surrender, never mind how daunting the odds might appear.
With a five-Test series in Australia starting next month, it might be tempting to think of this as a dress rehearsal but as Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir have repeatedly emphasised, international cricket is no stage for experimentation. India might be mindful of not bowling their pacers, and especially Jasprit Bumrah, to the ground, but beyond that, it’s unlikely that they will stray from the beaten path over the next three weeks.
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