News Nation Logo

INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND TEST SERIES 2016 – Team Preview

After Winning The Test Series Against The West Indies In Their Backyard, Team India Are Back At Home To Take On New Zealand In A Three Match Test Series.

By : Gautam Lalotra | Updated on: 18 Sep 2016, 12:00:48 PM
India vs New Zealand - File Photo

New Delhi:

After winning the test series against the West Indies in their backyard, Team India are back at home to take on New Zealand in a three match test series. The first test at Kanpur shall be a historic test for India as it shall mark the 500th test match for the home side in their glorious cricketing history. India would like to win this landmark test and get their series off to a winning note.

SQUADS:

INDIA

Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravinder Jadeja, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma

NEW ZEALAND

Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Henry Nicolls, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Luke Ronchi, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell,  Neil Wagner, Mark Craig, Matt Henry

 

TEAM PREVIEW:

INDIA

The Indian batting orders looks formidable in home conditions.

The opening combination may witness some changing and chopping. Promising youngster KL Rahul is likely to replace the Murali Vijay as the opener in the first match of the series. KL Rahul would be brimming in confidence after having a great tour of the Windies. Meanwhile Shikhar Dhawan who thrives on subcontinent conditions would like to give team India the much required impetus at the top of the innings.

The middle order looks strong and experienced .Virat Kohli would once again be the mainstay of the Indian batting. The Indian skipper would like to continue his prolific run scoring form against the Kiwis. Technically sound Ajinkya Rahane would also like to better his domestic record. Cheteshwar Pujara with his solid defence and calm temperament shall look to grind the opposition.

Meanwhile all eyes would once again be on the talented Rohit Sharma whose spot was highly contentious in the team. Sharma has had a pretty dismal run the longer format considering the talent he possess with the willow. He for once shall like to silence his critics by make his bat do the talking against the Kiwis.

Wriddhiman Saha shall once again don the keeping gloves. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja after his resounding success in the Duleep Trophy shall look to chip in with both bat and ball as he did against the Proteas

The Indians have gone in with two frontline spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin and Amit Mishra.

Ashwin has been a potent force on Indian subcontinent condition. He has simply run through visiting sides by casting a web around them. Amit Mishra shall be ready to outfox the batsman with his ‘leggies’ and subtle variation in flight. Meanwhile, Jadeja has complimented the spin attack very well with his left arm orthodox bowling.

The Indians have picked up four seamers for the tour. Bhuvneshwar Kumar shall look to exploit the swinging conditions in the morning sessions of the matches. Meanwhile Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, who were among the wickets in the Caribbean shall be raring to go at the Kiwi batsmen. Veteran seamer Ishant Sharma shall come in handy with his experiece at the test level.

NEW ZEALAND:

Opener Martin Guptill who has been short of runs will look to get back to his run scoring form. Tom Latham is likely to open the innings with Martin Guptill. Young Henry Nicholls has a wide array of strokes and looks to be a great player in the making.

The middle order looks the most compact part of the Kiwis batting. Kane Williamson has been a class act in test cricket and the belligerent stroke player would like to make an impression of sorts in India. Ross Taylor would come in very handy with all his past experience of playing in India.

Wicketkeeper batsman BJ Watling looks to be a well organised player who can contribute valuable runs with the bat down the order. The Kiwis also have Australian born Luke Ronchi as a reserve wicketkeeper batsman. Allrounder Jimmy Neesham shall give depth to the batting order as well as compliment the pace attack.

The Kiwis on expected lines have beefed up their spin attack. After spin wizards Vettori’s retirement, the Kiwis never had a replacement but Mitchell Santner and Mark Craig have been quite impressive in their test journey so far and would like to exploit the spin friendly conditions at home. Indian born Kiwi spinner Ish Sodhi is the third spinner in their squad.

The Kiwis pace attack has been weakened due to the absence of their seasoned seamers. While Adam Milne had pulled out of the tour earlier, Tim Southee has been the latest casualty with an ankle sprain. In their absence, the attack shall be shared by Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell and Neil Wagner. Trent Boult has been the most potent of Kiwi seamers and shall be looking to cartwheel a few stumps. Meanwhile Matt Henry has been named the replacement for the injured Southee.

 

SERIES PREDICTION:

India playing at home condition would start as favourite against the visiting New Zealenders. India going into the series shall be high on confidence after their compressive test series win against the Windies.

Meanwhile the New Zealanders had lost to the Proteas in the recently concluded test series played in South Africa. But conditions in the sub-continent shall be very different from those in South Africa.

The Indian batting order looks much more stronger and experienced on paper than the Kiwis.

The Indian spin attack has more venom with two potent spinners in R Ashwin and Amit Mishra. Meanwhile the Kiwis can’t be underrated as have top class players in Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor who have been proven performers in test cricket over a period of time.

One thing is for sure that the Indians shall play to their home advantage by preparing turning tracks for the Kiwis who have been circumspect at playing spin in the past.

So in a nutshell India should go onto the win the series by a 2-0 margin.

 

 

For all the Latest Sports News News, Cricket News News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.

First Published : 18 Sep 2016, 11:35:00 AM

Related Tags:

India

Videos