The first Test of the ongoing three-match series between India and New Zealand is currently underway at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first on Thursday (October 17). The first day’s play of the match was washed out due to rain, and there are high chances of rain playing spoilsport on Day 2 as well. The second day’s play of the first India-New Zealand Test was scheduled to start at 9:15 a.m. IST, but it got delayed by five minutes.
The delay happened because of the floodlights. One of the light towers was only half on, and players had to wait for around five minutes for that tower to take full effect.
India has made two changes to the playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand. Sarfaraz Khan and Kuldeep Yadav are playing for the hosts in the series opener in place of Shubman Gill and Akash Deep. Gill was not 100% fit, which is why he was left out of playing XI, whereas Akash Deep made way for Kuldeep due to tactical reasons.
Kuldeep, who has 53 wickets to his name in 12 Tests played so far, picked up a five-wicket haul in his last Test for India against England, which was played at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala from March 7 to 9, 2024.
New Zealand, on the other hand, are playing the series opener without Kane Williamson. 34-year-old Williamson, who is New Zealand’s leading run scorer in Test cricket, was not available for selection in the series opener. The star batter is yet to arrive in India for the red-ball series. He will delay his arrival due to a groin injury but is expected to be available for the Tom Latham-led side in the upcoming two matches, which will be played in Pune and Mumbai.
New Zealand is coming into the Test series against India after suffering humiliating defeats in two Tests against Sri Lanka last month in Galle. On the other hand, India whitewashed Bangladesh in the two-match Test series, and under Rohit Sharma’s leadership, the WTC 2023-25 leaders have won seven out of eight Tests played in 2024.
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