NEWS
Follow UsIndia won the toss and opted to bat in the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru on Thursday (October 17). It is the second day of the Test after Day 1 was washed out due to persistent rain.
The Bengaluru skies were gloomy on Thursday morning as well, but the play started on time. Despite overcast conditions, India are going into the contest with three spinners. Kuldeep Yadav will replace Akash Deep from India’s previous Test match—the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh last month. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj are the two seamers.
Shubman Gill also misses out. Skipper Rohit Sharma informed that he is not 100% fit. Sarfaraz Khan was drafted into the squad as injury cover and will replace Gill. His batting spot, however, is not known yet.
New Zealand, on the other hand, have three seamers — Matt Henry, Tim Southee and William O'Rourke. Henry makes a comeback, having last played Test cricket in February. Ajaz Patel is the sole specialist spinner with batting all-rounders, Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra, the other two spin-bowling options.
The match began 15 minutes earlier, ie, 9.15 am IST. 15 minutes are added to both the first and the second session with a target of 98 overs to be bowled today, if the weather permits. Since it is effectively a four-day Test now, the team batting first will only need to lead by 150 or more (not 200) to enforce follow-on.
Playing XIs
India: Rohit Sharma ( c ), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Tom Latham ( c ), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke
What did the captains have to say
Rohit Sharma: “We are going to have a bat first. It has been under the covers and we do understand that it could be slightly sticky early on but the nature of the pitch is such that you would want to put runs on the board first. You want to get the result as much as we want. We assess where we are and decide what needs to be done as a team. We have played well in the last few Test matches. Fresh series for us and we want to start well. From the last Test two changes, Gill misses out, and Sarfaraz comes in. Kuldeep comes in for Akash.”
Tom Latham: “The wicket has been under covers so hopefully we can make good use of it early with the ball. Bit of weather around, so we have't had a great prep here. Three seamers with Ajaz Patel and we have two all-rounders who bowl spin too.”
Ground Conditions
As told by Simon Doull and Murali Kartik in their pitch report:
“The outfield is simply superb. Great drainage. No reminiscence at all that it rained. It has been under the covers, which means it has a lot of dampness. It is quite cold when you touch it. When you touch it, it is slightly harder and it is dry underneath. The new ball could nip around early on and the spinners could get some help as well.”
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