🏏NZ Tour of India 2024: 2nd Test: 24 to 29 Oct 24 @ 9:30 AM IST 🏏 - Page 2

Thank you, Raji, for the thread and for tagging me.

This match is very important for Jaiswal, Rohit and Kohli, to reach the milestones. Best wishes for them.

India, reeling from a shocking defeat in the first Test in Bengaluru, will look for redemption as they take on New Zealand in the second Test, starting Thursday in Pune. After their stunning collapse to 46 in the first innings, India fought back in the second with a total of 462, but the damage was already done, and the Kiwis secured an eight-wicket victory, causing India to lose valuable points in the World Test Championship standings, although they still hold the top spot.

Recent Performance--

Last five matches

India W W W W L
New Zealand L A L L W

India have been here before. It hasn't happened all that often in the recent past, but they've been 1-0 down in a home Test series. It happened against Australia in 2017, and then against England in 2021 and 2024. All three times, they came back to win the series.

This doesn't change the fact, however, that India remain overwhelming favourites when the second Test begins on Thursday. New Zealand won in Bengaluru, yes, but they won via the perfect storm brewed up by the weather and a deceptive pitch that led India to make what turned out to be the wrong toss and selection calls for those conditions. New Zealand were themselves poised to make the same toss call had Tom Latham called correctly.

It isn't often that a visiting side shows up for a Test match in India and finds conditions that suit them more than the home side. Before Bengaluru 2024, it had perhaps happened twice in this century: Nagpur 2004 and Ahmedabad 2008.

Thanks for the tag

All the best Team India

How is everyone doing? It's Test match morning. All eyes will be on Pune today. Can India make a comeback and square the series after New Zealand won the first Test in Bengaluru? Can the visitors do what no team has managed in India since 2012 - win a Test series in the country? With New Zealand winning the first Test, a lot of tantalizing prospects have suddenly emerged, and this Pune Test should be a cracker. I am Ashish Pant and will be joined by Sidharth Monga as we look to bring to all details from the second Test.

On to some team news now. Shubman Gill is expected to return for India, and one of KL Rahul or Sarfaraz Khan will have to make way. Speaking to the media yesterday, Gambhir came to the defence of Rahul but didn't confirm who would be left out to accommodate Gill. He also hinted that workload management for the pacers will be done depending on the result of this Test. So Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play. But there are question marks on who the second seamer will be, or should be. Mohammed Siraj averages over 36 at home in 13 Tests, which is a reasonable sample size in these conditions. Those returns represent a huge drop in quality in the absence of Mohammed Shami, and there is a case to be made for Akash Deep who has been impressive in the limited opportunities given to him. Apart from that, the spin trio is likely to be unchanged, although India did add Washington Sundar to the squad after the defeat in Bengaluru.

As for New Zealand, they are still without Kane Williamson as he continues to recover from a groin strain. The big question for them is whether to stick with three seamers or go in with an extra spinner. They have the option of bringing in Mitchell Santner or Ish Sodhi from the bench in place of one of the seamers.

Thanks for the tag!

मोहताज मंजिल का तो नहीं है