Red-ball cricket returns to Bengaluru after a gap of two and a half years, as India take on New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium for the first of the three Tests from Wednesday, October 16. Rohit Sharma and his men have already been involved in preparatory net sessions at the venue ahead of the series, while the visiting team has also done a fair bit of assessment for the game.
Team India and New Zealand will collide in the first Test of their three-match series between October 16 and October 20. The much-awaited series opener will be hosted by the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and the action will commence from 9:30 AM IST onwards on each match day. The series constitutes a part of the ongoing 2023-25 WTC cycle.
IND vs NZ : Previous Performances
Speaking more of New Zealand, they haven’t won a series away from home for more than three years, and the conditions in Bengaluru may assist them just right to set the tone for the series. India, however, haven’t lost a series since their defeat to England back in 2012, and thus, a closely-fought contest is definitely up on the cards.
Team India recently trounced Bangladesh and England with emphatic margins at home. Ahead of their all-important tour of Australia, the Indian team will be aiming to extend their six-match winning streak in a bid to gain some momentum and strengthen their claim at the top of the 2023-25 WTC points table.
The New Zealand cricket team has lost successive Test series to Sri Lanka (away) and Australia (at home) with identical 0-2 margins in the past seven months. Struggling at number six on the WTC points table, the 2021 winners will be aiming to secure some late wins as the current cycle heads into its business end.
IND vs NZ : Head to Head
The Head-to-Head history between India and New Zealand dates way back to 1955, when the former hosted the BlackCaps for a Test match in Hyderabad. Including the first-ever clash, both the teams have played 62 Tests so far, and India have had an upper hand 35.49 per cent of the games, 22 in numbers. New Zealand, on the other hand, have won just 13, whereas 27 matches were drawn.
| Matches Played | 62 |
| India Won | 22 |
| New Zealand Won | 13 |
| Drawn / No-Result | 27 |
| First-ever Fixture | November 19–24, 1955 |
| Most-recent Fixture | December 03–06, 2021 |
IND vs NZ : Pitch Report
The city of Bengaluru has been receiving a regular rainfall over the half a week or so, and the day before the game, teams weren’t able to practice owing to a heavy downpour. The weather forecast also suggests that the rain threats loom over the entirety of the match, and thus, pacers are expected to gain advantage out of the overcast conditions.
The surface at Chinnaswamy has always been known for its assistance to batters and the flat nature it boasts. Hence, run scoring won’t be a problem either. The team winning the toss will be looking to bowl first, though, so they can pull out maximum benefit on the opening day itself.
Early intelligence suggests India might return to tracks that call for three spinners after the Bangladesh series, where they played three quicks in both Tests and the side winning the toss chose to field on either occasion. However, the inclement weather in the lead-up to the Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru could end up producing seam-friendly conditions. The weather is likely to play spoilsport through the game, with the first two days likely to be the worst affected. However, the drainage facilities in Bengaluru are as good as anywhere.
Some part of the game is likely to be affected by rain, especially on the first day. The cool overhead conditions though could offer the visitors some settling in time in India. The pitch was fully under covers a day ahead of the first day, and the early moisture might force teams to think about having extra pace options if it stays like this.
The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru is generally known to be conducive for batters, with something on offer for the spinners as well. The pitch will likely slow down as the match progresses to allow spinners to dictate terms in the contest. The average first innings total at the venue has turned out to be 358. Considering the overall track record of the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the captain winning the toss will likely opt to bat first.
IND vs NZ : Big Picture : India look to continue WTC march
When India started their home season, India needed seven wins out of their ten remaining Tests to put beyond reasonable doubt their qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. In certain scenarios, even five wins would be enough. With five of these Tests in Australia, India wanted to go there with the five minimum wins already in the bag.
Rain and poor facilities in Kanpur threatened to deny them one of those wins, but an extraordinarily enterprising batting approach manufactured a win there. They face a similar scenario when they start the three-Test series against New Zealand in Bengaluru, where rain disrupted the teams’ preparation, and is threatening to significantly impact the Test.
Former world Test champions New Zealand will want to prove silly the assumption that rain threatens to cost India certain points as was the case with Bangladesh in Kanpur, but the fact is that not much separates New Zealand and Bangladesh on the WTC points table. They have won only 37.5% of the points they have contested, about half of what India have.
What’s worse is that they are away from home comforts and are coming off a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, which is just a teaser of the challenges they can expect to face in India, who are on a six-match winning streak. New Zealand will have to start this challenge without the services of Kane Williamson, who is racing against time to be fit for the second Test.
Then again, the rain does offer New Zealand a window of opportunity. In case it lets up and leaves the pitch sweating, there could be value in inserting the opposition an unprecedented three times in a row in India. If they manage to cash in on that window, they have a chance in the Test, but equally, India will back themselves in any conditions because they still might have a better pace attack even with Mohammed Shami missing. In fact, they might even relish seaming conditions because they also have one eye on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.
IND vs NZ : Vital Stats that matters
- The last time New Zealand played in India, Ajaz Patel became the third man in Test history to take all ten wickets in an innings
- Kohli is 53 short of becoming the fourth Indian to 9000 Test runs
- India have already hit 97 sixes this year, going past the previous record, 89, which England had in 2022
- New Zealand has not won a Test series in India in their 12 attempts. The last time they won a Test match in India was back in 1988 at Wankhede.
- Teams winning the toss have never opted to chase in three consecutive Tests in India, a record that could be re-written in Bengaluru
IND vs NZ : Team News for India and New Zealand
India :
They managed to sneak in a full practice session when the rain relented two days before the start of the game but couldn’t do so one day ahead. In what did take place, Shubman Gill played a lesser part overall with Sarfaraz Khan being included in the slip-catching drills. A niggle could bring about be a straight swap in the batting department. On the bowling front, the conditions would call for a third seamer to be included which could mean that India go with an unchanged bowling line-up for the third Test in a row.
Shubman Gill has a stiff neck, which could unsettle a settled batting line-up. If he doesn’t wake up fit to play, Gill could be replaced by Sarfaraz Khan in the XI and KL Rahul at No. 3. The question for them is whether to field an extra spinner or a third quick. It is likely to eventually come down to how much rain there is in the lead-up to the toss and how the conditions are at the time.
Senior batters like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and dashing all-rounders like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will start out as some of the key members of the Indian team. Rising stars like Yashaswi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and comeback man Rishabh Pant will be expected to sustain their prolific run with the bat before Australia tour.
Rohit Sharma & Co are filled with confidence after whitewashing Bangladesh 2-0 in the recently concluded series. In fact, India are yet to lose a series at home since 2012, which shows their dominance in mother conditions. Given the kind of captain Rohit Sharma is, India are likely to enter the game with the same playing combination as the Kanpur Test versus Bangladesh.
India Probable XI : Rohit Sharma(captain), Yashaswi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(wk.), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand :
Will Young will slot in as a direct replacement for Kane Williamson. If they are to go in for three pacers, Mitchell Santner’s position could come under threat with Matt Henry waiting in the wings. The visiting team has been hurt with multiple setbacks ahead of the important series.
Their star batter Kane Williamson won’t be taking part in the Bengaluru encounter, while speedster Ben Sears has also been sidelined from the entire series, as Jacob Duffy has earned a maiden Test call-up. As a result, Will Young is expected to replace Williamson to bolster the Kiwis’ batting line-up.
In an early jolt to the visitors, young paceman Ben Sears was ruled out of the team due to a knee injury, allowing uncapped Jacob Duffy to take his place. As New Zealand aim for some subcontinental redemption, senior men Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and spin-bowling all-rounders like Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips will be expected to come up clutch for the tourists.
New Zealand Probable XI : Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke
Ind vs NZ Fantasy XI : Rishabh Pant(wk.), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Daryl Mitchell, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Ravindra Jadeja (vc), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Jasprit Bumrah, Ajaz Patel
IND vs NZ : In the Spotlight : Virat Kohli and Tim Southee
It can be difficult to judge where Virat Kohli‘s game is at because everything around him is always heightened – be it optimism or pessimism. India haven’t played a lot of Test cricket in the recent past, but Virat Kohli does have two centuries in his last eight Tests. However, before that, he had endured a long dry patch.
Now people are keen to know how he is faring given the big series in Australia at the end of the year. At his IPL home ground, at a venue where he led India to a rousing Test win against Australia in 2017, Virat Kohli is bound to be the centre of attention.
Kohli’s rival from his Under-19 days, Tim Southee was New Zealand’s captain only about a fortnight ago. He stepped down with a record of 6-6-2, but on the back of the whitewash in Sri Lanka. Eighteen short of 400 wickets, Southee continues to remain a vital part of New Zealand’s attack, especially in India, where he can use his experience to remain effective even when the conditions aren’t helpful.
He took five-wicket hauls on two of his three previous trips here – one of them in overcast Bengaluru in 2012, and another in dry Kanpur in 2021, which shows his versatility, something New Zealand will need desperately in order to remain competitive.
IND vs NZ : Match Prediction
New Zealand’s track record in India is poor, with just two wins from 36 Tests. Their current form has been shaky, highlighted by their struggles against Sri Lanka’s spinners in the recent Test series. A more formidable spin challenge lies ahead in India.
While Bengaluru might offer a less hostile pitch for spinners, they are pitted against an Indian side that seems unbeatable at home, having secured 18 straight Test series wins. Given the context of the WTC final qualification, we anticipate India will be highly motivated, making them our favored team to win this Test. Team India will start out as overwhelming favorites to defeat a struggling New Zealand team and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.