New Zealand in India, 2021 (3 T20Is, 2 Tests)

[prasen9]

The curators have left the pitch out to dry and say it will be slow spin.

This Upendra Yadav guy averages 48.9. Not bad for a keeper. If his keeping is good, we should have him in the vicinity. Aged 25.

[indiansportsfan]

Also what did Rahul Chahar do to deserve selection in the A team? I would have liked to see Saurabh Kumar instead. And also Ishan Porel in the starting lineup.

[prasen9]

Who knows! It is also not right that Siraj is kept out. He has bowled his heart out and he has bowled well. He is young and the future. Why do we persist with the oldies?

[Atithee]

Wow, the ball is really moving. Need to survive the first hour until sunshine appears.

[PKBasu]

Poor batting from Mayank Agarwal. What has happened to the batsman he was in his debut series (and the couple of years before that)? He was edgy throughout, fishing outside the off to outswingers, edging one for four between keeper and slip, and eventually falling for 13 tentative runs (apart from a couple of crisp off drives).

[PKBasu]

I agree that Shreyas Iyer should have had a test call-up before Vihari. My point is that the latter is the established test player currently (albeit a marginal player not good enough to merit being in the first XI), so should have been picked in the squad now -- as he is the better first-class cricketer over the recent seasons. But Iyer has done enough over his career to deserve selection, so I withdraw my objection to his selection

[prasen9]

Mayank and Gill were horrendous the first 40 minutes or so. Gill was out to Ajaz. NZ did not review! Gill's technique is bad. He will be found out in swinging conditions.

[Atithee]

New Zealand missed a sure LBW in Patel’s first over.

[PKBasu]

True about Ajaz Patel missing that LBW appeal. (They did appeal, but tentatively, and didn't ask for DRS). But Gill has been good today. He was tentative against the swinging ball at first (who isn't?) but never in serious trouble. And he has hit his stride -- 35* now, and motoring along nicely.

Very poor pitch. The ball is often keeping low -- on the first morning. Spinners will thrive, although the pitch is slow too.

[prasen9]

Gill has been very good against spin. He was awful against swing. Well, Jameson was swinging it a bit but Gill was in trouble against Southee who was hardly swinging it and hardly fast. Whatever the situation was, Gill stayed on the wicket and got some good runs. Good on him.

[PKBasu]

In swinging conditions, NZ won the first hour (34/1), but India won the second hour and are comfortably placed at 82/1 at lunch. Gill needs to push on and make a century to cement his test place. I agree that he would be better in the middle-order, and perhaps Rahane's shaky place in the middle is the one that Gill will eventually fill. (Rahane, incidentally, almost always opened when playing for Mumbai in the Ranji trophy).

[prasen9]

This is quite an old team.

Oldies: Saha (37), Ashwin (35), Umesh (34), Pujara (33), Rahane (33)
Young: Gill (22), Krishna (25), Siraj, Axar (27), Bharat (28)

Very few U-25, in fact 1. And, a lot of over 30's. We should plan for replacing Saha and Ashwin in the next year or two. Pant is ready. But, we do not really have a good offie yet. Need a batsman or two to replace Pujara and Rahane asap.

The next gen batting: Prithvi, Gill, Rahul, Vihari, Iyer, Mayank need to take their chances. And a few more need to put their hands up.

We have not had a good test-level leggie for a long time now. That is a shame. The NCA should focus on spin and batters who can play spin. Gill is very good against spin.

[prasen9]

Gill goes after lunch. He just cannot play when the ball moves a bit. He has a big gap between bat and pad. And, his foot does not go forward to the line/pitch of the ball against seamers. Maybe Dravid can fix that. He got out to Ajaz. Got beaten and given out against Southee that was saved due to a nick. Then, he lofted a spinner very close to Richardson who was standing a bit square at mid on or so. A conventional mid on would have gotten a catch. But, maybe then Gill would not have hit that shot. He got beaten a few times by Ajaz initially but then got the better of him. A few sumptuous shots but too scratchy with obvious technical flaws. Six of his 14 dismissals have been bowled or lbw. Too many. However on the other side, his control % was not awful. Around the 85-87% range. Which is quite respectable and not indicative of a lot of struggle. So, except for those balls where he was unsure, he played very well. Obviously, a work in progress.

Jinks needs a century.

[PKBasu]

That was a beauty from Jamieson, but better technique from Gill might have saved him. The Southee matter was simply a poor decision by the umpire -- a very clear inside edge. No batsman can be blamed for being wrongly given out and proving it via DRS!!

[prasen9]

Of course, they can be blamed. He got an edge. Which means he was not in control. That is the point. It is a game of chances. The more you are in control, the less likely you are to be out. The more you nick, the more likely you are going to be out sooner or later. The reason he was out was because his pad was not behind the ball. If it was, then the nick would not have crashed onto the stumps. Rahane got similarly swinging balls but his pad was behind the bat and he played with the middle of the bat anyway even though it swung about the same.