India will square off against New Zealand in the second Test match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune from Thursday onwards. The home team will determined to achieve parity after losing the opening Test at Bengaluru by eight wickets.
India’s first innings score of 46 runs led to their downfall and it was always going to be a herculean task to bounce back after that kind of performance despite their 462-run effort in the second dig.
Mohammed Siraj’s form is also a cause of concern for the team and it will be interesting to note if Akash Deep replaces him in the playing XI with the pitch expected to help the spinners as black soil will be used.
On the other hand, Rachin Ravindra was brilliant against the Indian spinners but he is going to have his work cut out in Pune in testing conditions. Furthermore, the Kiwis pacers came up with an amazing performance in the opening Test, taking a total of 17 wickets.
Stats Preview:
Ravichandran Ashwin needs 62 runs to complete 3500 runs in the red-ball version. He also needs seven boundaries to reach 400 fours in Test format.
KL Rahul needs 19 runs to reach the 3000-run mark in the red-ball version.
Mitchell Santner needs 96 runs to reach the 1000-run mark in Test matches.
Sarfaraz Khan needs eight fours to complete 50 boundaries in Test format.
Rohit Sharma needs a dozen sixes to complete 100 maximums in the multi-day format.
Rachin Ravindra needs 155 runs to complete 1000 runs in Test cricket.
Tim Southee needs seven sixes to complete 100 maximums in the red-ball version.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar.
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
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