India will take on New Zealand in the opening Test match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru from Wednesday onwards. After beating Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, India will look to continue the good show in favorable home conditions.
New Zealand, on the other hand, suffered a 2-0 loss against Sri Lanka while playing away and they are going to have their work cut out against the potent Indian team. The Kiwis were bundled out for only 88 runs in the second Test at Galle and they will certainly need to come up with an improved batting show to challenge the Indian juggernauts.
Meanwhile, there were a lot of positives for India in the Bangladesh series. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah – all delivered the goods but the home team will want more from the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who have not met the lofty expectations in the red-ball version in the recent past.
India is always a force to reckon with in their home conditions and they have won their last 18 Test series while playing at home. The Kiwis, on the other hand, won their last Test match on the Indian soil back in 1988.
Kane Williamson could only manage 138 runs in two Test matches against Sri Lanka and for Blackcaps to savor success against India, he needs to have a big series. But the veteran batter will miss the start of the series as he is recovering from a groin strain.
Match Prediction: India will start as favorites against New Zealand.
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.
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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