NEWS
Follow UsThe Indian team endured a horrific start in the morning session on Day 4 of the first Test match against New Zealand in Kanpur. Team India started the proceedings on the overnight score of 14 for the loss of Shubman Gill's wicket.
With the wicket having variable bounce and offering slight assistance to the spinners, the onus of the side in the first sessions relied heavily on Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara.
The formidable bowling unit of the Kiwis created opportunities and wreaked through the batting unit with four wickets in the morning session, including the prized scalp of skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
The right-handed batter is going through a lean phase this season and scored 411 runs in 21 innings at an average of 19.57. With Virat Kohli set to lead India in the second Test at Mumbai, the team management must decide on the combinations and the playing XI of the side.
In conversation with ESPNcricinfo, Daniel Vettori shared his insights on the selection debate for the hosts ahead of the second Test.
“I think it’s hard to drop someone who has scored a century on Test debut against a quality side. So, it will probably be Rahane who will make way for Kohli. He looks like he wants to be aggressive; the way he is playing doesn’t feel tentative, but he is getting out and that starts to weigh on the batsman’s mind," he said.
The former skipper of the Kiwi side felt a gap of one-off Test would benefit the Mumbai player in his bid to make a comeback in the national side.
"In a lot of ways, being dropped and having the ability to come back and resettle everything as a batsman, particularly at the Test level, can weigh you down. I don’t think it will be a death-knell for his career; it will just be a one-Test dropping because it just resets everything, gives him a chance to go back and do a bit of work, " he added.
However, his co-panellist, Wasim Jaffer, feels it will be tricky for the management to drop a player who has led the team in the first Test.
"It’s tricky question. Somebody who has captained the team in the first Test; you will think twice before dropping him in the second," he said.