India’s Probable Playing XI vs New Zealand for first Test in Bengaluru

The Indian cricket team will be playing a three-match Test series against New Zealand at home with the first game slated to begin at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from Wednesday, October 16 onwards. The hosts, who are in first place in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle, will be aiming to get the better of the Black Caps in all the three Test matches, which will secure their passage through to the final of the tournament. As far as New Zealand are concerned, they have been a part of three Test matches in the subcontinent in the past few weeks, losing two against Sri Lanka apart from a washout against Afghanistan in Greater Noida last month. With the indifferent form of both the teams in the recent Test matches, India will be favourites to defeat New Zealand in the first Test in Bengaluru this week. In this article, SportsTiger looks at India’s probable playing XI versus New Zealand for the first Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Openers: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c) Yashasvi Jaiswal was in scintillating form in the recently concluded two-match Test series against Bangladesh, scoring twin fifties to help India win the second game in record time. Rohit Sharma wasn’t quite at his best with the bat against the near neighbours, but his captaincy was on point, and he would like to improve on his batting performance against a highly accomplished New Zealand team in the upcoming three Test matches. #PAGE_BREAK# Middle Order: Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul Shubman Gill got a couple of impressive scores against Bangladesh last month in the two Test matches, and he will be looking to continue his form versus New Zealand this month. Virat Kohli made amends with a couple of good innings in the second Test after poor showing in the first Test against the Bangla Tigers, but still, he is yet to get a substantial score in the longest format of the game in the past year or so. Rishabh Pant scored a hundred on his return to Test cricket versus Bangladesh, and his impact behind the stumps was second to none, which is something he is going to keep up against the Black Caps this month. KL Rahul got a much-needed fifty against Bangladesh in the second Test last month, which will boost his confidence going into the tougher challenge against the New Zealand bowlers. #PAGE_BREAK# All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin have been two of the most consistent performers with both bat and ball for India for many years, and they continued with their rich vein of form against Bangladesh in two Test matches last month. With the New Zealand cricket team in town now, these two all-round cricketers will be pushed more in both the batting and bowling front, but it is highly likely that they come out on top once again in home conditions. #PAGE_BREAK# Bowlers: Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj With the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test series against Australia on the horizon, the Indian team management will be looking to give as much game time to multiple fast bowlers against New Zealand in the three Test matches, to get them ready for the challenge down under. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj have gotten success in the Australian conditions in recent years, which is why the rise of Akash Deep could prove to be crucial for India in getting the better of New Zealand at home this month before firmly focusing their attention on the reigning WTC champions.

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India’s Probable Playing XI vs New Zealand for first Test in Bengaluru