🏏India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: Bengalore,16 Oct- 20th Oct Day 4🏏

🏏India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: Bangalore, 16 Oct-20 Oct🏏

India find themselves in a situation similar to what they had at the start of their previous Test in Kanpur with rain posing a big threat to the Test.

With important World Test Championship points at stake still, they'd be hoping to have a full Test to force a result in their favour. Against a New Zealand side that has struggled in transition, they should start as firm favourites in familiar home conditions but the overhead conditions in Bengaluru might ease New Zealand's worries a trifle.

Coming in after a 2-0 defeat to Sri Lanka, a change in captaincy and the absence of Kane Williamson, there's a lot for the visitors to think about apart from the inexperience in the bowling.

Adding to their woes is that their preparation in India has been hampered by the weather, which makes adapting to the pitches all the more difficult against an in-form Indian team. While the odds might be stacked against them, they'd bank on the experience in the group to tide over some of it.

Rachin Ravindra's white-ball experiences here, alongside those of Daryl Mitchell's, offers some comfort. Tom Latham, the new full-time Test skipper, has crossed five fifties and the last time Tim Southee played a Test in Bengaluru, he bagged a seven-fer while Ajaz Patel had a landmark ten-wicket haul in an innings in Mumbai.

New Zealand would need all the confidence that they can draw from different quarters ahead of the biggest challenge in Test cricket at the moment. India at home offers an all-round challenge like none other in the world at the moment.

They have bases covered on all fronts and have experience to go with form. That there's potential for improvement from a couple of key batters here adds to the imposing challenge that they already put out.

Neither Rohit Sharma nor Virat Kohli could get a fifty across the two Tests against Bangladesh which they'd be eager to turn around before the series Down Under.

When: Wednesday, October 16, 2024 at 09:30 AM IST

Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

What to expect: Some part of the game is likely to be affected by rain, especially on the first day. The cool overhead conditions though could offer the visitors some settling in time in India. The pitch was fully under covers a day ahead of the first day, and the early moisture might force teams to think about having extra pace options if it stays like this.

Teams:

India

They managed to sneak in a full practice session when the rain relented two days before the start of the game but couldn't do so one day ahead.

In what did take place, Shubman Gill played a lesser part overall, with Sarfaraz Khan being included in the slip-catching drills. A niggle could bring about be a straight swap in the batting department.

On the bowling front, the conditions would call for a third seamer to be included which could mean that India go with an unchanged bowling line-up for the third Test in a row.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

Team news--

New Zealand

Will Young will slot in as a direct replacement for Kane Williamson. If they are to go in for three pacers, Mitchell Santner's position could come under threat with Matt Henry waiting in the wings.

Probable XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel

Did you know?

- Virat Kohli needs 53 runs for 9000 Test runs. He has not made a fifty in his last six innings this year.

- New Zealand has not won a Test series in India in their 12 attempts. The last time they won a Test match in India was back in 1988 at Wankhede.

- Teams winning the toss have never opted to chase in three consecutive Tests in India, a record that could be re-written in Bengaluru

What they said:

"We keep our options open for playing three seamers and three spinners as well. But again, we want to just come here tomorrow morning and see what the conditions are like, and then take a call. We will discuss that as the game gets on. We want to see what kind of situation is there in front of us, how many overs are to be played, and things like that. We had no idea when we came to Kanpur, that it is going to be washed out for two days and then we are not going to have a full game. But we managed to get a win and we managed all our plans based on how much time do we have in the game. And based on that, we made our plan and we went on with it. So I don't know what it is going to be here, but I expect to have a full game. That will be ideal. But let's come here tomorrow and see what lies in front of us," - Rohit Sharma, India Captain

"I think anywhere around the world at the moment, it's hard to win away from home. You've got to play some really good cricket. Cricket teams are obviously fantastic in their own conditions. They know how to play in their own conditions. And I think you look at India as a whole. You obviously look at the spinners when you come over these conditions. But they've got just as equally good seam attack in terms of Bumrah, Siraj, obviously Deep, who's played the last couple of Test matches against Bangladesh. So just a well-rounded side from a batting point of view. You have a lot of match winners that can take a game away from you pretty quickly. We're obviously going to have to play really well. We're looking forward to the challenge. And hopefully we can lean back on the experiences that we've had here the last couple of times that we've toured." - Tom Latham, New Zealand Captain

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, the torchbearers of India's transition phase, will have to be the team's driving force in its quest to lord over an unsettled New Zealand when the two sides square off in a three-Test series, beginning in Bengaluru on Wednesday (October 16, 2024).

The baton has not been completely passed, but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are certainly running their last lap, and these two young superstars will have to show that they can carry forward the legacy of the titans.

Since a productive series against England earlier this year, Gill is now more familiar and comfortable with the rigours of Test cricket.

Gill seems to have sorted his issues with the in-coming deliveries from pacers, but a trace of the old failing still remains.

In Chennai, Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahamud troubled him with nip-backers before eventually grabbing his wicket.

Similarly, Jaiswal has a penchant to go for expansive shots against pace bowlers to get dismissed, evidenced by his three dismissals recently against Bangladesh quicks.

In all, the left-hander has fallen to pacers 12 times in 20 innings, and he would want a better record before facing a clutch of top-class Australian pacers.

While these concerns are not deeply rooted, they serve as cautionary points against a New Zealand attack that has capable hands in pacers Matt Henry, William O'Rourke and the experienced Tim Southee, if he gets to play here after a sharp decline in his form.

There is another angle to the emergence of Jaiswal and Gill as the pillars of the Indian line-up, as Kohli and Rohit have not precisely set the field ablaze.

Rohit, who has played 15 innings this year, has made two hundreds but managed only one fifty in the remaining 13, totaling 497 runs in eight Tests at just over 35.

Kohli, 53 runs shy of 9000 Test runs, has not made even a fifty in six innings this year, and while Rohit often perishes in his attempt to grab the momentum, his colleague offers a much more curious case.

The 35-year-old Kohli has not been able to convert the two starts he got this year, ending up with 46 (vs SA) and 47 (vs Bangladesh), stirring the uncomfortable memories of that great slump between 2019 and 2023.

The master batter will also have to keep an eye on New Zealand left-arm spinners – Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra – the tribe which has been a thorn in his flesh in the past.

It has been a while since these two stalwarts embossed their mark across a full series, and a nervy New Zealand could be their golden chance to do so.

India has only minor concerns, but New Zealand's troubles across batting and bowling departments are more pronounced.

Their batsmen struggled copiously against Sri Lankan spinners recently while losing an away series 0-2, and here they will have to negate two modern-day greats in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.