The second match of the test series being played between India and New Zealand will be played in Pune from today. The match will start at 9:30 am at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium and the toss will be at 9:00 am. Both teams will face each other for the first time in this stadium in a test.
India is trailing 1-0 in the three-match series. New Zealand defeated them by 8 wickets in the first match. However, despite this defeat, India remains at the top of the WTC points table.
India will have to win this match at all costs to make a comeback in the series and keep the WTC final in mind. The team has 7 matches left in this WTC cycle (2 in New Zealand and 5 in Australia). The team will have to win 4 matches out of these and draw 2 to play the WTC final without depending on others.
India won 34% of the matches against New Zealand
India dominates New Zealand in Test cricket. 63 Tests have been played between the two so far. India won 22 matches and the Kiwi team won 14 matches. That is, India has won 34% of the matches. While 27 matches were drawn. At the same time, 22 series have been played between the two. Team India won 12 series and New Zealand won 6 series. 4 series were also drawn.
Bumrah is India’s top wicket-taker in the series, and Sarfaraz is the top scorer
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal is the top scorer from India this year. He has scored 977 runs in 9 matches. During this, he scored 6 half-centuries. However, his bat remained silent in the first match. At the same time, Sarfaraz Khan, who was included in the team in the absence of Shubman Gill in the first match, is the top scorer of this series. He played an important inning of 150 runs in the second inning of the first match. Jasprit Bumrah is number one in bowling in both this year and the series. He has played 8 matches this year and taken 41 wickets. Took 3 wickets in the last match.
Rachin scored the most runs for New Zealand this year
Rachin Ravindra is the highest run-scorer for New Zealand this year. Rachin has scored 772 runs in 7 matches. He scored a century in the first match. Matt Henry is ahead in bowling.
Williamson will not play in the second Test either
New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson will not play in the Pune Test either. New Zealand head coach Gary Stead has given this information. Williamson was injured during the recent Test series against Sri Lanka. He returned to New Zealand for rehab. The team hoped that he would return in the second Test match against India.
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead told reporters in Pune on Monday that Williamson is currently doing rehab. His injury has healed to a great extent, but he is not ready to return to Test cricket yet. It is expected that he will return from the last Test to be played against India in Mumbai.
Pitch Report and Records
The pitch of Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune helps bowlers a lot. Spinners get help here. The pitch of the second test can be a slow turner. According to the report, black soil has been used for the pitch. Due to this, less bounce can be seen in Pune as compared to Bengaluru. Looking at the pitch, India can play three spinners. So far 2 test matches have been played in this stadium. Indian team has won 1 and Australia has won 1.
No chance of rain at all
There is no chance of rain in the Pune match. According to the weather website AccuWeather, there is a 1% chance of rain here today. The day temperature will be 17 to 32 degrees. The sun will shine throughout the day, clouds will also come in between.
Possible playing 11 of both teams
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill/KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jaspreet Bumrah and Akash Deep.
New Zealand: Tom Latham (captain), Dwayne Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner/Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Ejaz Patel, William O’Rourke.
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