India vs New Zealand, 1st Test: Hosts to hunt Kiwis in historic 500th match

Festivities in Kanpur as India meet New Zealand

A formidable Indian cricket team are expected to dominate the visiting New Zealand by revelling in home conditions in their historic 500th Test match, which will herald the beginning of a long 13-match home season, here from Thursday.

The team played their first ever Test when it was a British colony in 1932 but over the years, has established itself as a force in world cricket.

The Indian team have always been an intimidating side on spin-friendly tracks under sultry conditions and the script is unlikely to change unless the Kiwis master the conditions.

However, the threat of rains looms large on the opening Test of the three-match series with predictions of heavy downpours in the next six days.

The Green Park track promises to be a true Indian Test wicket where spinners will have a major role to play and skipper Virat Kohli will have no hesitation in going in with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra.

Moreover, New Zealand have not had enough practice to get ready for the series. The only warm-up game they played against Mumbai was on a flat Feroz Shah Kotla track in Delhi, where their bowlers bled runs.

Martin Guptill, one of the Kiwis’ best batsmen in recent times, lasted a mere 21 balls in his two innings even as Luke Ronchi staked claim for the opener’s slot with a century in the second innings of that game.

It was actually Mumbai who dominated the practice match with three of their batsmen striking a century each in the first innings.

Even history is heavily stacked against the visitors, who have not won a Test on the Indian soil in their last 14 attempts. The last Test New Zealand won here was way back in 1998

In the 15-man squad, young captain Kane Williamson along with Ross Taylor is the most experienced player with five Tests here.

In complete contrast, India have won nine of their last 10 Tests played at home and the only draw was against South Africa last year in Bangalore and that too because it was a weather-affected contest.

The headache for India would be to determine the opening the slots.

Left-hander Shikhar Dhawan, who struggled to get a single fifty during the West Indies Tour, is still facing competition from the young K.L. Rahul, who had impressed in the Caribbean by scoring a century each in both Tests and T20s.

Dhawan himself said that competition is good for the Indian team and it will not be a surprise if Rahul gets to open with Murali Vijay. Although Vijay also did not have a great Caribbean Tour and it remains to be seen who gets the axe