India now sits in second place, a point behind Pakistan, and would return to pole position if it beats New Zealand in the forthcoming series.
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India have played 14 Tests under Kohli’s captaincy so far, winning 10 of those.
India will have an extended season that will comprise 17 Tests.
Cricket – India v New Zealand – First Test cricket match – Green Park Stadium, Kanpur, India – 22/09 …
“Many of us have been featuring in the IPL”. Australia and the West Indies were whitewashed, and South Africa probably would have been past year but for rain. The administrators have tried to beef up the crowd by giving out free tickets for school children and pricing tickets lower. This team is full of exciting players who are very talented, as we all know. The highlight amongst them will be the battle for the title of the best batsman in world cricket – with Kohli up against Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith over the course of the season. There can be a lot of insecurities: ‘Whether I’ll play in the next game or whether my position is secure or not.’ It’s all about getting them rid of that feeling.
There were occasional balls which beat the bat, but in sweltering conditions it was shaping up as a tough day in the field for New Zealand. “We believe we have what it takes to be the best team in the world”, the 27-year-old said. It’s more like “Ashwin devo bhavah”, in homage to India’s sharpest spin bowler. Now we are putting in more effort, to face the spinners longer in nets and practicing small little things by ourselves – someone might sweep, someone might play off the backfoot – whatever it is.
But losing the toss meant New Zealand will be batting last, when ideally they’d have preferred to be bowling to make use of their spinners as the pitch wears.
Kane Williamson introduces the third spinner Ish Sodhi into the attack. When South Africa visited India past year, there was criticism about the way Hashim Amla, the then captain, under used Imran Tahir, their most attacking spinner.
The Blackcaps will start all three of their spinners, along with Trent Boult and Neil Wagner in their attack.
For India, too, the team combination will be focussed upon greatly. Two down in the series, in the aftermath of Monkeygate and the crises it spawned, India triumphed in four days at a venue where no visiting team apart from West Indies had won since the 1980s. First ball is scheduled to be bowled at 9:30 a.m. India Standard Time at Green Park Cricket Ground in Kanpur, India, on Thursday, September 22.
Indian fast bowler Ishant Sharma has been ruled out of the test with mosquito-borne viral disease Chikungunya.
Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami who were among the wickets in the West Indies are expected to feature in the playing eleven. Vijay has been consistent right from the start, and has been one of the most successful openers for India in Test cricket in the recent past, as the Kiwi bowlers have so far failed to get rid of him, as he is known to be unsafe if once gets set in the field.
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Nearly all of these combinations are dictated by the strip that is central, literally and figuratively.
