As India won the toss and opted to bat first, the picture was clear and it went clearer when Gavaskar was talking about the pitch “This pitch is a little different because when we played, it was more brownish; now it’s more beige-colored”.
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Ravindra Jadeja (16 not out) and Umesh Yadav (8 not out) survived until stumps.
India won the toss and elected to bat on a surface that already had clearly visible cracks on it looking to pile up the runs before batting becomes exceedingly hard. Rohit Sharma (35) once again got a start but again fell when he looked set for a substantial contribution on pitch which assisted the spinners to some extent but could not be termed a “rank turner”.
On his experience of bowling in India so far, the New Zealander added: “The challenge is to keep the hands dry in these hot conditions”.
“We got out to loose shots as well and wicket was deteriorating as well, so we really got to be patient on this wicket”.
After failing to put enough runs on the board on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand, opener Murali Vijay had felt that poor shot selection and deteriorating wicket were the main causes for their poor show.
Indian-born Sodhi dismissed Vijay just before tea with Watling holding onto another faint edge as New Zealand claimed three important wickets for 80 runs in the second session to halt India’s progress.
The left-handed batsman hit two fours and then took a single off left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner to take India to 300. The duo was instrumental in England’s historic series victory, especially after they lost the first Test in Ahmedabad. First things first, it’s to get the last wicket early tomorrow and then once we bat, build partnerships and go from there. “After losing the toss, I think we are in a reasonably good position”, said Santner.
Mitchell Santner, who picked 3-77, said if bowled in the right areas, run-scoring can become hard. India start the series just one point behind Pakistan, and they will be hopeful of returning to number one before Pakistan play three Tests against the West Indies in October and November.
Santner, while praising the efforts of Vijay and Pujara, insisted that the visitors were also on a strong footing. Both Pujara and Vijay looked quite positive against the spinners.
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Talking about the wicket here, Santner felt that key to scoring runs is to rotate the strike, similar to the way how Pujara, R Ashwin and Murali Vijay did for the hosts. “This is only day two, and a lot needs to happen before we start thinking about what will happen on days four and five”.
