Amidst controversies of spot fixing and India constantly losing matches abroad, the visitors gear up for the test match at the, ‘Windy Wellington’. This ground holds a special place in achieves of our memories as the last time, when India toured New Zealand in 2009, Harbhajan Singh’s magical spells yielded him seven wickets which helped the Indians clinch the series. But the times have changed. The players who played then have retired or are no more a part of the squad.
Coming back to India’s pre match preparations, the highlight was that the skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to keep himself away from the media glare and chose to send Shikhar Dhawan instead for the pre match conference for the obvious reasons. A- The spot fixing controversy B- India ending up on the losing side every time they play overseas.
Addressing the media, Dhawan sounded pretty positive as he said, “We have been doing well. Unfortunately, we are ending up on the losing side. It is a new team, young players who have got five-six matches under their belt. Of course, it takes a bit of time. We fought back nicely in the last Test and we batted really nicely even in the last innings. There are a lot of positives to take from the last match and it is building our confidence and our strength."
No sooner the captain stepped on to the field, bad news came in. The hosts threw up a challenge by offering the visitors with a lush green wicket. Expressing their interest to bowl first, the Kiwis, will be playing the match with five pace seamers. The first couple of hours for the team batting first are touted to be extremely crucial. The venue is also said to be windy thus one just cannot predict the direction of the ball. In these conditions, Ravindra Jadeja, will play an important as the left arm spinner. Thus one can predict that Ravichandran Ashwin might not get a place in the playing eleven.
The key word for the Indians is ‘implementation’. From here the only thing that the Indians can do is stick to the basics. If India wins the toss and chooses to bowl first, then the pacers will have to stick to their line and length. If the visitors bat first, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will have to chip in a make runs. Kohli will have to be extremely cautious, with the short pitched deliveries, which have bothered him way too much. The pacers will have to repeat the act of the second innings at Auckland. The hosts will have to have minimum of 300-350 runs on the board.
Dhoni who usually does not believe in team meetings, will have to sit an draft a strategy, for each of these bowlers and make sure the strategies have been implemented. The Indian squad has performed in patches, thus they will have to come together as a unit.
Coming back to India’s pre match preparations, the highlight was that the skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to keep himself away from the media glare and chose to send Shikhar Dhawan instead for the pre match conference for the obvious reasons. A- The spot fixing controversy B- India ending up on the losing side every time they play overseas.
Addressing the media, Dhawan sounded pretty positive as he said, “We have been doing well. Unfortunately, we are ending up on the losing side. It is a new team, young players who have got five-six matches under their belt. Of course, it takes a bit of time. We fought back nicely in the last Test and we batted really nicely even in the last innings. There are a lot of positives to take from the last match and it is building our confidence and our strength."
No sooner the captain stepped on to the field, bad news came in. The hosts threw up a challenge by offering the visitors with a lush green wicket. Expressing their interest to bowl first, the Kiwis, will be playing the match with five pace seamers. The first couple of hours for the team batting first are touted to be extremely crucial. The venue is also said to be windy thus one just cannot predict the direction of the ball. In these conditions, Ravindra Jadeja, will play an important as the left arm spinner. Thus one can predict that Ravichandran Ashwin might not get a place in the playing eleven.
The key word for the Indians is ‘implementation’. From here the only thing that the Indians can do is stick to the basics. If India wins the toss and chooses to bowl first, then the pacers will have to stick to their line and length. If the visitors bat first, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli will have to chip in a make runs. Kohli will have to be extremely cautious, with the short pitched deliveries, which have bothered him way too much. The pacers will have to repeat the act of the second innings at Auckland. The hosts will have to have minimum of 300-350 runs on the board.
Dhoni who usually does not believe in team meetings, will have to sit an draft a strategy, for each of these bowlers and make sure the strategies have been implemented. The Indian squad has performed in patches, thus they will have to come together as a unit.
