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After a good few months full of T20 action, the Indian team returned to Test match cricket with the first Test getting underway at the Green Park, Kanpur on Thursday. India won the toss and opted to bat first and while most India batters got starts, none of them have been able to convert it into a big hundred. Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee have been the wicket-takers for New Zealand in the match so far but in a further blow to the Kiwis, Southee walked off the field injured midway during his over on Session 2 of Day 1.
The incident happened in the 46th over of the India batting innings on the opening day of the Test match. While the right-arm pacer had taken the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara and was in the middle of a great spell, he seemed to experience some discomfort and walked off the field after bowling 4 balls in the over. The rest of the over had to be completed by Jamieson.
Update on Southee's injury awaited
It is not yet clear what the precise nature of the injury is or whether Southee will be able to bowl again in the match but if he is not able to bowl then it would be a massive advantage to India as the Kiwis will be a bowler less for the remainder of the match. It has been a hectic schedule for Southee who not only was there with the Kiwis in the T20 World Cup but played the first two T20Is and turned up again for the first Test at Green Park.
Meanwhile, there is a debutant each in India and New Zealand team. While the hosts have handed the Test cap to Shreyas Iyer, New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra is making his debut in this fixture. Shreyas has walked in to bat with a job in his hand as it is looking like a great batting surface where India have already lost 4 wickets for under 150. Shreyas would look to build a partnership and help India get close to the 400-run mark which they would have had in mind before the innings started.