New Zealand reached 92 for 2 at lunch on the first day of the second Test against India in Wellington on Thursday. Devon Conway was unbeaten on 47, while Rachin Ravindra added 5 runs as the pair remained at the crease when the break was taken. R. Ashwin claimed both wickets to fall during the opening session, finishing with figures of 2 for 33.
Earlier, New Zealand captain Tom Latham won the toss and elected to bat first at Pune's Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium. This match is crucial for India, who are trailing 1-0 in the three-match series. The Rohit Sharma-led team must win to maintain their 12-year home dominance and enhance their chances of reaching a third consecutive ICC World Test Championship final, with a tougher challenge from Australia on the horizon.
Speaking at the toss, Latham noted that the surface looked different from the previous week and confirmed that Matt Henry was sidelined due to a minor injury, with spinner Mitchell Santner taking his place. “We are going to have a bat. The surface is slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. It might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world,” Latham said. “Obviously, a really proud moment for this group (the win in the first Test). We celebrated that, but our focus has quickly turned to Pune.”
For India, pacer Mohammed Siraj, batter KL Rahul, and spinner Kuldeep Yadav were left out. Shubman Gill returned to the playing eleven after missing the first Test due to neck stiffness. Akash Deep replaced Siraj, and Washington Sundar came in for Kuldeep, marking his first Test appearance since March 2021.
Rohit Sharma commented, “We would have batted as well. When you play a Test match like that (the first Test), the first session did not go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here. The pitch is a little drier, yes. We understand how important the first 10 overs are.”
India's Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand's Playing XI: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke.
