He’s gone for 9. Excellent stuff from these two. So it’s a right balance of putting the bowler under pressure and at the same time respecting the good balls that he bowls. A new batsman at this stage, anything can happen! What works against Pujara, and to a certain extent Vijay as well, is that he is not a quintessential Kohli guy. Both the batsmen are on 45 now.
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India will need to improve against spin themselves with New Zealand bringing three spinners for their Test series and England also set to do the same for their visit. That was one area we could have worked more on. It’s 100 for India.
Likely combination: Murali Vijay and KL Rahul. They are a very potent team, not just in the spin department, but all-round as well.
The Kane Williamson-led visitors have three spinners in their starting XI.
Asked if Kiwi spinners can match that of India’s, Williamson said he was quite optimistic.
The 28-year-old has been India’s most reliable pacer in the longest format of the game, claiming 209 wickets at an average of 36.71 in his 72 matches. India 42 for 1.
India will remember Santner and Sodhi as the duo which destroyed them at the World Twenty20 earlier this year when, on a rank turner in Nagpur, the hosts collapsed to 79 all out chasing a seemingly modest New Zealand score of 7-126. At the end of two overs, India 12 for no loss. Wagner kept banging it short to test the Indian openers while Boult preferred a fullish length.
Chetsehwar Pujara also had an ordinary West Indies tour but is a certainty in the middle order along with skipper Kohli after a strong showing in the Duleep Trophy, where he hit an unbeaten 256 for India Blue.
Won: 129; Lost: 157; Drawn: 212.
No.4: Virat Kohli – no arguments there, unless (well, see above). However, with Rahul’s emergence, and what an emergence it has been, and the fact that Kohli is a big fan of Dhawan and the left-hander’s ability to “take the game away from the opposition in a session”, as the captain put it, Vijay’s place in the team is not as obvious as it might have been.
Going by the spin-heavy conditions, Kohli will have no hesitation in going in with his spin trio – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra.
As expected New Zealand has fielded three spinneers.
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While that record has well and truly been surpassed the Black Caps haven’t managed to chalk up a win in their 14 subsequent tests in India – losing six and drawing eight which highlights the difficulty of the assignment for coach Mike Hesson and his side.
