Live: IND Vs NZ, Day 5 1st Test | Live Scores & Commentary | India vs New Zealand | 2024 Series

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PREVIEW: India, under new head coach Gautam Gambhir begins its redball campaign with a twomatch Test series against Bangladesh in Chennai on September 19. Rohit Sharma’s squad sees the return of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul, who missed recent matches.

Rohit Sharma’s men will need to make the most of the five upcoming Tests at home (two against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand) before they face a bigger test of keeping Australia at bay in their backyard later in the year.

While a few years ago, Indian batters wouldn’t have thought much over the prospect of facing visiting spinners, recent performances certainly ring bells. From averaging 119.8 at home against spinners in 2019, the topsix now averages 48.4 in 2024, still an improvement on a 25.9 from the previous year. Moreover, the top six batters are over two times more likely to fall to spin bowling in home Tests compared to 2019, when they lost a wicket every 160 balls, compared to 56 in 2023 and 76 in 2024.

The trio will be expected to prop up the batting with their ability against spin and showed no sign of rust over four practice sessions.

With skipper Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill comprising the toporder, India has ample resources to tackle Bangladesh’s fourpronged spin lineup led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan who were key architects of the miracle in Rawalpindi.


Teams:
India Team: Rohit Sharma(c) Yashasvi Jaiswal Shubman Gill Virat Kohli KL Rahul Rishabh Pant(w) Ravindra Jadeja Sarfaraz Khan Dhruv Jurel Axar Patel Ravichandran Ashwin Kuldeep Yadav Jasprit Bumrah Mohammed Siraj Akash Deep

New Zealand Team: Devon Conway Tom Latham(c) Will Young Kane Williamson Michael Bracewell Daryl Mitchell Rachin Ravindra Glenn Phillips Tom Blundell(w) Mark Chapman Mitchell Santner Tim Southee Matt Henry Jacob Duffy Ajaz Patel William ORourke