New Zealand in India 2024/25, IND vs NZ 1st Test Match Preview

Big picture: India wants to continue the WTC march

Entering their home season, India needed seven wins from the ten remaining Tests to put their qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) final beyond doubt. In certain scenarios, even five wins would be enough. After five of these Tests in Australia, India wanted to arrive with five minimum wins already under their belt.

Rain and poor facilities in Kanpur threatened to deny them one of those victories, but an exceptionally enterprising batting approach ensured a win there. They face a similar scenario when they begin the three-Test series against New Zealand in Bengaluru, where rain disrupted teams' preparation and threatens to significantly impact the Test.

Former World Test champions New Zealand will want to prove foolish to suggest that rain threatens to cost India certain points, as it did in Kanpur in Bangladesh, but the fact is that there is not much separating New Zealand and Bangladesh in the WTC points table. They have won just 37.5% of the points they have contested, about half of what India has. What's worse is that they don't have a home game and suffer a 2-0 defeat in Sri Lanka, which is just a taste of the challenges that await them in India, who are on a six-match winning streak . New Zealand will face this challenge without the services of Kane Williamson, who is racing against time to be fit for the second Test.

On the other hand, the rain offers New Zealand an opportunity. Should things slow down and the pitch start to sweat, it might be worth using the opposition in India three times in a row, something that has never been done before. If they manage to exploit this window, they have a chance in the Test, but India will also be backed in all conditions as they may still have a better pace of attack even with Mohammed Shami missing. In fact, they might even enjoy the conditions as they also have their eyes on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia.

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In the spotlight – Virat Kohli and Tim Southee

It can be difficult to judge where Virat KohliHis game is on overdrive because everything around him is always heightened – be it optimism or pessimism. India have not played much Test cricket in the recent past, but Kohli has two centuries in his last eight Tests. Before that, however, he had endured a long dry spell. Now people are curious to see how he fares given the big series in Australia at the end of the year. At his IPL home ground, where he led India to a rousing Test win against Australia in 2017, Kohli will certainly be the center of attention.

Kohli's rival from his Under-19 days, Tim Southee, captained New Zealand just about two weeks ago. He retired with a record of 6-6-2, albeit on the back of defeat in Sri Lanka. With eighteen wickets from 400, Southee continues to be an important part of the New Zealand attack, particularly in India, where he can use his experience to remain effective even when conditions are less than favourable. He took five wickets on two of his three previous trips here – one in cloudy Bengaluru in 2012 and another in dry Kanpur in 2021, showing the versatility that New Zealand will desperately need to remain competitive.

Initial information suggests that India may return to a course requiring three spinners after the Bangladesh series, where they played three quicks in both Tests and the team that won the toss chose to field on both occasions. However, the poor weather ahead of the Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru could result in poor conditions. The weather is likely to play spoilsport during the game, with the first two days likely to be the most affected. However, the drainage facilities in Bengaluru are as good as anywhere else.

Shubman Gill has a stiff neck, which could unbalance a tight batting line-up. If he wakes up unable 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 bring in an additional spinner or a third fast player. Ultimately it will probably come down to how much rain there is leading up to the throw and what the conditions are at that time.

India (probably): 1 Rohit Sharma (Capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Shubman Gill/Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (Week), 6 KL Rahul, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Akash Deep/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj

Mark Chapman is Williamson's replacement in the New Zealand squad, but the place has gone to Will Young. Mitchell Santner will be under pressure to retain his place after averaging 197 in Sri Lanka and being defeated by Glenn Phillips.

New Zealand (possible): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Tom Latham (Capt), 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner/Michael Bracewell, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Ajaz Patel, 11 Will O'Rourke

“No matter who the opponent is, it is important for us to be an even better version of ourselves. So our focus will be on how we can do better than the previous series.”
Captain of India Rohit Sharma wants his players to continue to improve

“Obviously the wicket is covered for a long period of time and it's not necessarily as hot as we would normally expect here, which may bring the fast bowlers into play. We looked at the previous game a little bit.” That was played here maybe a month ago. And I think the seam cost a lot of wickets.
Captain of New Zealand Tom Latham expects fast bowlers to come into play

Big picture: India wants to continue the WTC march

In the spotlight – Virat Kohli and Tim Southee

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