Mumbai: Having played out a nail biting draw in Kanpur in the 1st Test and with the series being in perfect balance, India and New Zealand will lock horns at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from 3-7 November in the final game with both the sides looking to clinch the Test series.
Outstanding ton from debutant Shreyas Iyer(105) along youngster Subhman Gill(52) and Ravindra Jadeja(50) propelled India to 345. Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin than ran havoc at the Green Park building the Kiwis out for 296 despite the gritty efforts from Tom Latham(95) and Will Young(89).
The visitors though made comeback on the 1st session of the fourth day thanks to the stellar display of swing bowling by Tim Southee(3/75) and Kyle Jamieson(3/40) reducing India to 103/6. Wriddhiman Saha (61*) alongside the in form Iyer(65) showed great resilience bringing the hosts back on track while handing the Blackcaps a tricky target of 284.
Though saving the game till the lunch break on the fifth day through Tom Latham(52) and nightwatchman William Somerville(36), the Kiwis lost the plot in next two sessions losing wickets in bunch until the last pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel saw it through to the end of day’s play to salvage the visitors.
The return of Virat Kohli to the squad has created the dilemma of swapping the players. The two veterans Ajinkya Rahane,the stand-in skipper and Cheteshwar Pujara both have failed miserably with bat and there are rumours that one of them might go out of the side.
Also KS Bharat, who showed great glove-work in the 1st Test when Wriddhiman Saha left the field with a neck-strain and the former could get his chance over the veteran Bengal lad despite the later scoring a hard fought fifty in 2nd innings.
Also Ishant Sharma who had an outing to forget in the last game might leave his place for Prasidh Krishna who could get his debut. Kohli on his return to the side would like to get his form back on a ground where he made his best ever Test ton of 235 against England five years back.
The Kiwis on the hand, would be looking to clinch an unlikely series victory having drawn the last game in the most dramatic fashion. Skipper Kane Williamson didn’t impress much in the both innings although considering recent form, he always seem to emerge when his side needs him. Tom Latham was the man for the Kiwis in the last game with bat and will be a vital cog in the line as well. The bowling unit though have tested the Indian batsman quite a lot. Despite the a dead pitch for the seamers, Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson brought back memories of the World Test Championship final with the duo finding knicks of the opposing top order in both the innings. However, they lost the plot in later stages of the day’s play and with Kohli returning to the side, the Kiwis have to more careful if they want an edge over the hosts.
India’s Test squad: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
New Zealand Test squad: Kane Williamson (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (wk), Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner and Will Young.
