Winning the next two Tests will be the first priority for Rohit Sharma and his team before they tour Australia for a five-Test series next month. With India in trouble, the focus here is on the nature of the MCA Stadium pitch. There is no grass on it and it is made of black soil, which will neutralize the bounce achieved by New Zealand in Bengaluru. The condition of India's batsmen worsened when William O'Rourke and the experienced pair of Matt Henry and Tim Southee performed brilliantly on a pitch suited to fast bowlers. However, Rohit did not read the pitch properly despite it being cloudy.
Cultivating a rank turner could be one way out of this difficult situation, but it has backfired for India twice in the past. Eight years ago, Australia had won here by 333 runs, whereas last year in Indore the same team had defeated them by nine wickets.
With the return of Shubman Gill, one of KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan will have to be out. Coach Gautam Gambhir has expressed his desire to give Sarfaraz a chance for a long time, but Sarfaraz has presented a strong case by scoring 150 runs in the second innings in Bengaluru. One can say that both senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are going to score big. Rahul would especially like to take inspiration from his unbeaten inning of 254 runs played here in 2019-20, which paved the way to defeat South Africa by an innings and 137 runs. True to his own high standards, Yashasvi Jaiswal faced two failures in the Bengaluru Test and the young batsman tried to overcome his shortcomings after practicing several times in the nets.
As much as the Indian camp gives importance to Rahul's credentials in Test cricket, the right-handed batsman has not been able to perform at his best and has not scored consistent runs with his bat. The Karnataka batsman is battling for a spot against Sarfaraz, who followed his unbeaten 222 for Mumbai in the Irani Cup with a brilliant 150 in Bengaluru to help India fight against all odds. Rishabh Pant kept wickets briefly at the end of India's training session on Tuesday, but it remains to be seen whether he is 100 per cent fit to shoulder the match workload. India's perennial problem is also to ensure that its players get adequate rest as well as be prepared for future challenges, but in these cases, it is unlikely that Jasprit Bumrah will get some time off, as the series here is going to be a tie. There is a great need to win.
However, according to assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, Mohammed Siraj is facing a “wicket drought”, so there may be a possibility for Akash Deep to return. He also batted for a long time in the nets here on Tuesday. Ravichandran Ashwin will look to take full advantage of whatever he is offered along with Ravindra Jadeja over the next five days. India's batting will also get a boost with the inclusion of Washington Sundar, who can take the ball away from New Zealand's left-handed batsmen captain Tom Latham, Devon Conway and the extremely talented Rachin Ravindra.
New Zealand has performed quite well on this tour considering the absence of Kane Williamson in two of the three Test matches. Will Young looked determined in the middle order, which also includes the talent of Ravindra. However, New Zealand will be hoping for more from Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell and will also want other players to try to replicate Southee's feat in the first innings of the first Test.
The match will start at 9:30 am Indian time.
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