India continue their bumper red-ball season as they get ready to host New Zealand in a three-match Test series after demolishing Bangladesh.
The action kicks off in Bengaluru with the first Test, and here are our match preview and prediction for it.
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Sitting pretty on top of the World Test Championship points table, India will be looking to consolidate their position as they face sixth-placed New Zealand in another home series.
India come into the series on the back of a dominant series win over Bangladesh, which saw Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant shine with the bat as Jasprit Bumrah, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja went about their business with the ball. The Indian unit looks like a well-oiled machine with all departments firing, only their third seamer being a bit of a trouble, though on the spin-friendly Bengaluru pitch it remains to be seen if Gautam Gambhir decides to go with a third seamer or an extra spinner; Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel are the options if he chooses the latter.
New Zealand, on the other hand, arriving on the back of a 0-2 loss to Sri Lanka, desperate to turn things around if they want to make the WTC final. Ajaz Patel and William O’Rourke have been their leading wicket-takers, and both of them will be key once again alongside the other spinners in Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips.
It was a total batting failure in Sri Lanka for the Kiwis. Barring Rachin Ravindra’s fighting 92 in the first Test, no other batter looked comfortable. The visitors do have plenty of experience in their squad with the likes of Kane Williamson, Tom Latham, Darly Mitchell, and Devon Conway, who will be expected to step up in spin-friendly conditions.
The black-soil pitch in Bengaluru will keep the spinners in play. It will be a case of whichever batting line-up can handle them best. Rain has been looming around, though, and even washed out the training session for the hosts, though Rohit Sharma and Co showed against Bangladesh that, even with lost time, they can turn things around, and that’s why they are our favourites to kick off the series with a win.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma, Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, KL Rahul, Rachin Ravindra, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajaz Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin
Venue: Bangalore
Winners Prediction: India
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