India eyes Kiwi sweep in final home series of the year

BENGALURU: After a commanding 2-0 win against Bangladesh, India now faces New Zealand in a crucial three-match Test series, starting Wednesday here at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. A clean sweep here would bring India closer to its quest for Lord’s, locking in a spot for the World Test Championship (WTC) final even before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy next month.

The series triumph against Bangladesh has solidified India’s top spot in the WTC standings with eight wins and a commanding points percentage (PCT) of 74.24.

New Zealand, currently sitting sixth in the WTC standings, faces a monumental task. They must win all six of its remaining Tests—three against India and three against England—to even dream of a WTC final berth.

The Kiwis’ troubles are compounded by the absence of its star batter Kane Williamson, who won’t feature in the first Test due to a groin strain he suffered in the Sri Lanka series and pacer Ben Sears, who on Tuesday was ruled out of the series pertaining to a knee injury.

The side has also seen a leadership shift, with Tom Latham taking over from Tim Southee as captain following a disappointing series against Sri Lanka.

Tom is not new to this role, but this time he will have a huge task ahead of him to not only lead a New Zealand side that is in a slump in the long format recently, but also to face a formidable Indian side in its home soil, which the Kiwis haven’t breached for 36 years.

India, fresh off the famous Kanpur victory, where they were lauded for its aggressive “high risk, high reward” approach, may face a similar situation here at Bengaluru as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rains for the rest of the week in the city, which can have serious implications for the game.

Even the practice session of the Indian team on Tuesday was cancelled due to constant showers.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma addressed the importance of sticking to the plan despite the external factors and stressed on adapting to different situations as the game progresses.

“Our attitude doesn’t need to change; we want to try and win games at whatever situation lies in front of us. We will try to make the most out of that situation and see how we can press the pedal to take the game forward,” said Rohit speaking to the media on the eve of the first Test here.

“We had no idea when we came to Kanpur that it would be washed out for two days and we are not going to have a full game. But we managed to get a win and implemented all our plans based on how much time we had in the game,” he further added.

These uncertain conditions may prompt India to go with the same three-pace attack, but skipper Rohit Sharma is open for all options and wants his wards to be fully prepared.

“It all depends on the conditions. The pitch is still under covers and we can only take that call tomorrow once we see what the situation looks like. It also changes match to match and what pitch we play on. We keep our options open for playing both three seamers and three spinners as well,” he said.