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India have had a terrific year when it comes to Test Cricket so far. They defeated Australia on their fortress Gabba early this year, then won 3-1 against England at home and had taken an imperious lead of 2-1 against England on English soil before the long postponement of the 5th Test match. After an impressive run throughout the year in Tests, India would be keen on winning this upcoming series against Kiwis. India will be playing this Test match without their main players like Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah, but Indian spin trio Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja & Axar Patel is expected to play a crucial role in this Series
Numbers and Stats before start of India vs New Zealand 1st Test match
0 - India have never lost a Test Series against New Zealand on Indian soil. Ajinkya Rahane has never lost a Test match as Captain so far.
India in Test Series against New Zealand on their home soil:
Series Played: 11
Series Won by India: 9
Series Drawn: 2
Series Lost by India : 0
Ajinkya Rahane as Captain in Test Cricket:
Matches: 5
Won: 4
Drawn: 1
Lost: 0
4 - Umesh Yadav needs 4 more wickets to pick 100 Test wickets on Indian soil alone.
4 - Kyle Jamieson needs 4 more wickets to pick 50 wickets in Test Cricket overall. Tim Southee needs 4 more wickets to be the highest wicket-taker for a New Zealand bowler against India in international cricket.
Most wickets by a New Zealand bowler in international cricket against India:
Richard Hadlee - 92
Tim Southee - 89
Trent Boult - 77
5 - Ravichandran Ashwin needs 5 more wickets to surpass Harbhajan Singh and become the 3rd highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket. Also, he will be joint-highest wicket-taker for an Indian bowler against New Zealand in Tests.
Most wickets by an Indian bowler in Test cricket against New Zealand:
Bishan Singh Bedi - 57
EAS Prasanna - 55
Ravichandran Ashwin - 52
5 - India have won 5 out of the last 6 Tests they played at Green Park, Kanpur. The last time India lost a Test match in Kanpur was Wayback in Oct, 1983 against West Indies.
6 - India have won the most Test matches (6) in the year 2021 so far, however, New Zealand have just played 4 Test matches this year and haven't lost a single Test match in 2021 so far.
70 - Tom Latham needs 70 more runs to complete 9000 runs in FC Cricket