India were all out for only 46 runs in the first innings of the first Test match played in Bengaluru. He played well in the second innings, but despite this he had to face defeat by eight wickets. Now Rohit Sharma and Co. have no room for error in the clash at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, starting today. If the move is to be made thoughtfully. Every bet has to be accurate. These four mistakes must not be repeated.
Pitch and weather will have to be judged correctly
The pitch of the MCA Stadium here has been prepared considering the situation in India. There is no grass on it and it has been prepared from black soil on which New Zealand‘s fast bowlers will not get the bounce like Bengaluru. New Zealand’s fast bowlers William O’Rourke, Matt Henry and Tim Southee had troubled the Indian batsmen a lot in the first match. In such a situation, India can prepare turning wickets but in the past this move has backfired. Australia had defeated India by 333 runs on a turning wicket here eight years ago. The same team had defeated the Indian team by nine wickets in the match played in Indore last year.
Choosing the right playing XI
If India, hurt by the defeat in the first match, has to make a comeback in the three-Test series against New Zealand, then it will have to field a balanced team by selecting properly in the second match starting here from Thursday. Shubman Gill is ready to make a comeback, so one of KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan will have to vacate the place for him. Head coach Gautam Gambhir is in favor of giving more chances to Rahul but Sarfaraz has strengthened his position by scoring 150 runs in the second innings in Bengaluru.
Senior players will have to take responsibility
India will expect big innings from senior batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Kohli had played an unbeaten inning of 254 runs against South Africa here in the 2019-20 season and he would like to take inspiration from that and play a big inning. The Indian team management may be favoring Rahul but the batsman has been struggling to score runs for some time now. On the other hand, Sarfaraz, after scoring unbeaten 222 runs for Mumbai in the Irani Cup, played a brilliant inning of 150 runs despite all the adverse conditions in Bengaluru. Rishabh Pant kept wickets for some time during the practice session on Tuesday and it remains to be seen whether he is fully fit for the second Test match.
Siraj is proving to be the weak link
India’s problems are not limited to batting. There are some problems in his bowling too, especially the continuous poor performance of fast bowler Mohammad Siraj remains a matter of concern. In such a situation, the team management can give a chance to Akashdeep, who also practiced batting vigorously on Tuesday. If the pitch helps the spin bowlers then Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would like to take full advantage of it. Washington Sundar has also been included in the team. If he is included in the playing eleven, it will strengthen India’s batting. As far as New Zealand is concerned, Rachin Ravindra made the difference by scoring a century in the first Test match, but his team would be expecting useful contributions from other batsmen as well.