IND v NZ, 1st Test Day 1: 5 Talking Points

If the first day of India’s 500th Test match began well, the close of the first day of the IND v NZ series saw the visitors well and truly on top. While the openers got off to a good start, the lower and the middle order well and truly failed to impress with the bat. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, two players who were on the receiving end of a considerable amount of flak concluded with two of the highest scores in the innings. While there were a plethora of talking points on the first day, here are five talking points from the recently concluded day.

1. Occasion eludes those present

The 500th Test match was celebrated in the grandeur as well as the complete pomp of the BCCI. They said that it would be a grand occasion, and it was one hell of a grand occasion. With even Akhilesh Yadav present on the podium, all of the former Indian skippers were felicitated one by one including MS Dhoni, Anil Kumble, and Virat Kohli. Even Kane Williamson was bestowed with an important memento for simply gracing the occasion.

2. Pujara and Vijay help India regroup

KL Rahul looked as fluid as ever. However, when Mitchell Santner brought an abrupt end to his innings, Murali Vijay, and Cheteshwar Pujara carried on the good work done by the opening batsmen. In spite of batting on a terribly difficult surface as well as facing a quality spin trio of Craig, Sodhi, and Santner, they played out the rest of the session without losing a wicket. They added 112 runs for the first wicket with Vijay and Pujara sweating it out to amass 65 and 62 respectively.

3. Kiwi spinners peg the Indians back

In spite of showing the way for the other Indian batsmen, some of the shots offered by the Indian batsmen were something that was deemed ‘ordinary’. The spinners thrived on a spinning wicket while the Indian batsmen succumbed to simple yet avoidable wicket falls. Virat Kohli’s wicket was deemed to have fallen due to a rush of blood while Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, and Murali Vijay were dismissed by the spin trio.

4. Ashwin and Rohit briefly resist New Zealand onslaught

A few eyebrows were raised when Rohit Sharma’s name appeared on the team sheet. However, batting with the impressive Ravi Ashwin, the duo went on to add a few vital runs in the grand scheme of things. With the Kiwis closing in on the batsmen’s wickets, the duo stitched an important yet shaky partnership of 52 runs. Needless to say, Ashwin and Rohit Sharma smashed 40 and 35 runs respectively.

Also read – Twitter Reactions: New Zealand holds the upper hand at stumps on Day 1

5. Trent Boult makes the ball do the talking in final session

From a New Zealand perspective, Trent Boult was the danger man. Neil Wagner had claimed the wicket of the Indian skipper, yet, the 27-year old left-arm pacer bamboozled the Indian batsmen with some fantastic showing of pace bowling. He mixed it up extremely well as the Indians managed to score just the 100-odd runs in the final session whilst picking five wickets. Trent Boult claimed three of these wickets and conceded just the 15 runs in what was a brutal spell of bowling. He concluded the day with figures of 3/57.