New Delhi. Presence of grass on the pitch and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah’s intense practice in the nets. From this it can be guessed what is going to happen in the first test match between India and New Zealand starting from Wednesday. India had fielded three pacers in the playing eleven against Bangladesh. No one should be surprised if the team combination remains the same against New Zealand. The weather is also predicted to remain bad in the next few days. With this, the case of going with three fast bowlers has become stronger.
Coach Gautam Gambhir held a press conference two days before the start of the India-New Zealand Test series. Like a smart coach, he did not reveal his plan. He said, ‘It (combination) depends on the conditions, wicket and opposition team. The best thing about this dressing room is that we have so many quality players and we can choose among them. We know they can work for us. This is called depth. We will see the pitch tomorrow. We will talk and see what is the best combination to win at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Although serious, captain Rohit Sharma and other members of the think tank will certainly take into consideration the recent struggles of the New Zealand batsmen against the Sri Lankan spinners. New Zealand had lost 37 wickets against the Sri Lankan spinners led by left-arm spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya in the two-Test series last month.
India can rely on left-arm traditional spinner Akshar Patel and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. Gambhir has kept the option of playing an additional spinner along with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja open. He said, ‘Obviously we have a lot of great bowlers, not just Kuldeep Yadav, but we also have many other great bowlers in the team.’
Gambhir said, ‘I have said earlier also that we do not keep anyone out of the scheme. We choose only those players who can work for us. If the pitch and conditions remain like this, then New Zealand will not have any complaints because this can make the role of their fast bowlers important. In such a situation, the New Zealand team will depend heavily on fast bowler William O’Rourke against the Indian batting order. O’Rourke took eight wickets despite getting no help from the Galle pitch.
New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra said, ‘I think traditionally the Bengaluru pitch is going to turn a little less. You see many fast bowlers taking wickets here. Here we may not get as much turn as we can expect in Mumbai.
Ravindra said that as far as the nature of the pitch is concerned, the New Zealand team will have to play the Test match without any prejudice. He said, ‘It will not turn on the first, second day but it can turn on the third, fourth or fifth day. It is important for us to play according to what is in front of us and not go into this match with prejudices.
Tags: Gautam Gambhir, india vs new zealand, Team india
FIRST PUBLISHED: October 14, 2024, 20:31 IST