New Zealand tour of India 2021 News

New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell has said that playing in India is the ultimate challenge in Test cricket and that the Indian side is a world-class unit. “It’s probably one of the ultimate challenges in Test cricket - coming out to India and taking them on in their conditions. They are obviously world-class and they did show that in the Test. It was nice to fire a few shots and put them under some pressure. We obviously would have liked to do well here but it was not to be this time. We will take a lot of learnings from this experience and look forward to the next visit,” Mitchell said according to Cricket.com. The two sides had faced each other in a two-match Test series. The first clash in Kanpur had ended in a draw while the Blackcaps were totally outplayed in the second Test in Mumbai. The visitors were bowled out for 62 in reply to India’s 325 in the first innings and were then bundled out for 167 to suffer a defeat by 372 runs. While New Zealand lost the match, their spinner Ajaz Patel etched his name in the record books after he bagged a 10-wicket haul in the first innings and became only the third bowler to achieve the feat in Test cricket.

There is no stopping Ravichandran Ashwin in India as he has leapfrogged former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan and equalled former South Africa’s all-rounder Jacques Kallis on the list of players with most Player of the Series award to their names. He has now won nine Player of the Series award in only 81 Tests across 33 series and stands behind only M Muralitharan, who won 11 such awards in his 133-game and 61-series long career. Kallis won nine such awards in his 161-game long career spread across 61 Test series while Imran Khan played 88 Tests and 28 series to win eight Player of the Series award. He has been an instrumental figure in India’s indomitable rise in the longest format in home conditions and the story was no different in the series against New Zealand. He picked 14 wickets in the two-match long series and also played a crucial role with the bat in the first Test to bail the hosts out of troubling situations. He picked three wickets in each innings of the first Test and followed it up with four wickets each in the second and final Test of the series in Mumbai. He bowled his heart out on the final day of the first Test in Kanpur but New Zealand lower-order batsmen, especially Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel held their grounds to deny India the win. The pitch in Kanpur did offer spin to him and his fellow spinners but the pace of the surface was so slow that batsmen did get more than enough opportunity to defend good balls. He rated the pitch at Wankhede Stadium as “wonderful” as it offered both the spin and “bit more bite” which he always emphasize on. The balls were bouncing as well while taking turns and hence there were a lot of wickets to spinners, unlike the first game where they had to toil hard and purchase wicket. "I enjoyed that pitch, spun and had a bit more bite," he said in the post-match presentation. “It was a wonderful pitch. Every time you come to Wankhede, there's something to look forward to.” When Ajaz Patel completed his rare achievement of picking all 10 wickets in an innings, whole spectators at Wankhede Stadium were up on their feet and one prominent of them all was Ashwin, who was giving him resounding applause from the Indian dressing room. He credited his bowling effort and called it part of destiny that he came to the city of his birth to achieve such a monumental feat. “Before I get to what I did, it was wonderful from Ajaz. He put the ball in the right places, I enjoyed watching him bowl. It was destiny, I think,” Ashwin lavished praise on Ajaz Patel. India were playing with two off-spinners after a long time and the last time they did the combination was the same as it was there in Mumbai as Jayant Yadav returned after a long gap of nearly five years. They work on a different mode of operations but Ashwin said that he enjoys a “good relationship” with Jayant, who has spent time with him to understand his understanding of the game and also Axar Patel, who has been his teammate for a long time now while playing in the IPL as well outside of Team India. “Jayant and I have a good relationship from 2014 when he flew down to Chennai from Haryana to pick my brains. Axar, I've been playing for a while at Kings and Delhi Capitals. For starters, I'd look to play a part in South Africa and finish off with a series win,” Ashwin said.

Mayank Agarwal has been adjudged Player of the Match for a big 150 in the first innings and following that up with another splendid half-century in the second innings on a pitch where all New Zealand batsmen and even Indian batsmen found it tough to negotiate for a long time. He would have been competing with Ajaz Patel, who took a staggering 14 wicket-haul in the game and tried to keep New Zealand in the game for as long as possible. However, he was the lone man standing for the hosts and Mayank Agarwal turned out to be the difference between the sides on a pitch where balls were turning square from the very first day. He expressed his jubilation at coming back to form and scoring runs at the top of the order. Notably, there were question marks over his future after twin failures in Kanpur where he struggled against Tim Southee and Kyle Jamieson. "Feels nice to be among the runs, this knock will be special for me," he said in the post-match presentation. He was asked about the adjustments in the technique he made after the failures in Kanpur and he rejected the claim citing a discussion with the coach Rahul Dravid, who backed him to play with his own technique rather than changing the style midway through the series. He said that Dravid backed him by saying that his style of play has earned him runs in the past and rather he should focus on the mental aspect of his game. However, he did make some tweaks in his technique after suggestions from Sunil Gavaskar, who suggested that he was not getting side on to counter the away going deliveries and also that his backlift was too high to play with soft hands. Having delivered big runs in Mumbai, he has earned the right to be in India’s squad for the tour of South Africa, at least as a backup opener and he relished the prospect of the challenges that may come his and India’s way in the rainbow nation. "Very honestly, did nothing different after Kanpur. It was about having mental discipline. Rahul bhai told me there's no point thinking about technique mid-series. 'This is the technique that has got you runs, have a solid mindset, stick to your game plans, the runs will come. Sunny G told me to keep my bat low, be more side-on. I couldn't do that early on but it helped. I wasn't really thinking of a century in each innings, but yes definitely should've converted the 60. A different challenge in SA, we relish as a team."

New Zealand are on the brink of a loss, a loss that is likely to come because of a poor showing with the bat from them in their first innings where they were bowled out for 62, their lowest ever Test score against India in the history of the game. Recognising that the battle to draw the game where without any weather interruptions, the Kiwis would have to play out 180 overs or score 400 runs from here on (They are currently at 140-5) is almost impossible to achieve Rachin Ravindra said, “It’s always tough being bowled out for 60, a lot of things went wrong.” “We all strive to be better. We tried to put that sort of stuff behind. It was not our best performance but we knew we have got a second innings and we’ll keep fighting from there,” the left-hander, who was batting unbeaten on two runs said in a press conference at the end of third day’s play in Mumbai. Asked whether he will take in anything from his bowling performance and try and convert those learnings while he bats at the vicious turner in Wankhede, Ravindra, who has taken three wickets in the game and is batting with Henry Nicholls in an 11 run partnership which has taken up 49 balls, said that keeping the intent high would be his and his team’s main motto at the crease on day four. Shubman Gill became Ravindra's maiden Test scalp and he also poached Virat Kohli, getting him played down. “I think I carried an understanding of the surface and what I was doing from when I was bowling to adopting a game plan. It’s important, we keep our intent high. Get into good positions and smother the ball nicely,” said the 22-year-old. He further said that his resistance in the first game which gave New Zealand the famous draw in Kanpur will surely boost his confidence. “Yes, I will take confidence from it but we still have a very, very long way to go. Two days, 180 overs, there’s a lot of cricket to be played.”

Axar Patel, who has so far picked up nine wickets in the ongoing two-match Test series against New Zealand believes that 2021 has been his dream year. The 27-year-old who made his Test debut against England early this year believes that he is now picking form with the bat too and hence with all three spinners being proper batters, India can continue with the three spinners formula in the home Tests in future too. “Actually, this has been my dream year you can say. The way I bowled in England series and now how the New Zealand series panned out, in between, there was IPL as well, so I can say that this has really been a good year for me personally,” said the left-arm spinner at the end of the daily press conference at Mumbai. In five Tests so far, the Gujarat born bowling all-rounder has picked up 36 wickets. Talking about his goals, “My endeavour is to keep improving and look at areas where I need to get better. All the hard work that I have put in all these years have finally yielded results this year.” Axar who scored his maiden Test fifty in this match and who has contributed really well with the bat in this game particularly, having scored 52 and 41 in two innings, said that the team can now freely think of playing three spinners as he is able to grab his chances with the bat. “The batting coach (Vicky Rathour) and team management have faith in my batting abilities, and they have always told me that ‘you can do it’. Earlier, when I got chances, I couldn't convert my starts but this time when I got chances, I was able to convert. “My batting is benefitting my team and if you see that myself, Jaddu and Ash bhai play as all-rounders, it releases a bit of pressure on our batters, so it's a good sign. As long as I keep contributing it’s good for both me and my team,” he stated. With New Zealand at 140-5, while chasing 540, India have their tail up and will try and finish the game as early as possible on day four.

India took another emphatic step towards their dominance in the game and series win on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai. They have eliminated the top five batsmen of the Blackcaps batting lineup and are still ahead by a mammoth margin of 400 runs to seek dominance on the fourth day of the Test. They were already ahead in the game and even a batting collapse would not have brought the Kiwis back in the game. That collapse did not come either as Mayank Agarwal was in no mood to waste his form and Cheteshwar Pujara was eager to score some runs with having no real pressure on his shoulders in terms of the team’s situation. Frustration continues for Pujara, Kohli India were way ahead in the game on the third day and lack of runs and game time in the middle would have been one of the reason behind India delaying their declaration or taking a cautious approach in batting. The two main batsmen in focus were Virat Kohli and Pujara, who have spent more than two years of their life without scoring a hundred and their batting numbers have started to make them look like a pale shadow of themselves. Pujara, in particular, was looking to bat with intent as he punched on anything loose by Ajaz Patel and Will Somerville. He was down the track quickly and played with the minds of the spinners to take a strong foot forwards towards the elusive big score. However, as has been the case this year, his error in judgment while playing a flatter delivery off Ajaz Patel got him dismissed in the slip as the slowish delivery gripped and turned ever so slightly to grab the edge of his bat. His departure was followed by a resounding welcome for Kohli by the spectators present at Wankhede Stadium as they would not be hoping to see him again for a long time, at least in the format. Also, the team were in fantastic condition and there was no pressure for him against any bowlers, except the lone warrior in Ajaz Patel. Kohli looked promising and showed his intention of playing with the aggressive approach by taking Somerville over the fence at deep midwicket. He was also decisive in his footwork and was rarely found in no man’s land against spinners. However, just when he too looked set for a big score, an innocuous delivery took the inside edge of his bat and ricocheted to hit the stumps and leaving him with a wry smile which was a clear sign of helplessness from the Indian skipper. Infinite tricks of Ravichandran Ashwin India were not banking on the pacers to do the magical job they did in the first innings and they were at the Kiwi openers from the word go with Ashwin from one end with the new ball. He has had tasted tremendous success against Tom Latham and his variations have always kept the left-hander guessing although he was super in Kanpur. Even there, he was the only bowler who troubled him with his variations in spin and pace. The off-spinner rolled out a perfect mix of slower off-spinner and faster arm balls to deceive Latham into playing down the wrong line. He did not have to play too many tricks to claim Young, who could not provide a solid defence to a sharply bouncing delivery while he was playing a few attacking shots too cleanly. Ross Taylor appeared to have come to the crease with the thought that batting while defending a lot of deliveries was not a viable option and hence he tried to throw caution to the wind. The idea was good but the execution was awful as he picked the worst ball to attack. Ashwin was very slow in the air, so much so that Taylor had to wait for an eternity to have the ball in his arc and his inability to delay the shot produced a top edge that Pujara caught with some struggle. Looking ahead to the fourth day India have just five wickets to take and win the series 1-0 and there are far too much help in the pitch for them and very few batsmen to lead New Zealand’s resistance on such a helpful pitch. New Zealand have the duo of Rachin Ravindra and Henry Nicholls to lead their resistance on the fourth day and they would be looking to at least delay the inevitable if not bring about a miraculous escape.