(Cricket news) With the T20 games done and dusted all the focus shifts to the longest format of the game as the two giants of the game will look to secure the World ranking 1 in Tests this year. A lot of eyes will be on Rahul Dravid and his coaching team as the team will not be your regular team, the likes of KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah will be given a much needed rest for this series. A certain few things we can expect from this new age test team.
1) Shubman Gill will be back opening the batting
The last time he played a test series (against England in August) Shubman Gill had sustained a serious shin injury which kept him out for the entire test series and eventually lost out his place in the Indian team after the emergence of KL Rahul but with his injury, it be blessing in disguise for Gill to make his way back into the team. Gill after his injury has been in relatively good form in the IPL and Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy as he will hope to carry this good form against New Zealand. With Rahul Dravid at the helm, Shubman will be hoping to learn a lot from his mentor and coach which helped them win the U19 World Cup in 2019, although Shubman is still a newbie to test cricket, he certainly knows how to adapt to different situations. In eight matches, he has amassed 414 runs at an average of 31.84 and will be hoping that change in coach and approach help him improve his record even more.
2) Look out for the debutante Shreyas Iyer
With Virat Kohli resting for the first Test, Shreyas Iyer will be handed out his debut as the team management think that he's more than capable enough to fill that number 4 slot in the team. Suryakumar was only added to the squad after Rahul was ruled out of the 2-match series due to an ankle injury. Surya was also sent to England by the BCCI on the tour of the United Kingdom after the squad was trimmed down due to injury and fitness issues but he had failed to make his Test debut back then. While Shreyas Iyer was included in the team after Rohit Sharma was rested for the entire test series and Virat Kohli from the first Test. Shreyas has quite the reputation in the domestic circuit as he's got that aggressive approach to the game, something that India will miss especially with Rishab Pant not playing in the side.
3) Pujara and Rahane need to better their individual form
Pujara has been often criticised for his slow and modest batting approach recently but it is his grit and determination along with performing under pressure that makes him such a good batsman in this format. He was going through a tough phase but found some form in England with scores of 45, 91 and 61 in three of the four test matches and now he would be looking to break the century duck as he hasn’t scored a century in 17 innings. Pujara has a decent record against the Kiwis in Tests, having scored 772 runs from 10 matches at an average of 42.88, with Rahul Dravid’s leadership he will be hoping that he inherits the tag of the “wall of India”
Rahane has been a terrific captain in this format but his personal performance this year hasn’t been great. Rahane had a torrid time in England, scoring a paltry 109 runs from seven innings. He averaged just 15.57 in the series with a high score of 61. Rahane was outscored by the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur with even Bumrah averaging more than the middle-order batter but with familiar conditions he will hope for a change in fortune as there will be little pressure on him to perform.
