New Zealand vs India, 2020: India’s Predicted XI for the Test series

Youngster Prithwi Shaw has been included in the 16-man India Test squad for the two-match series in New Zealand, which also features the fit-again Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma who is included subject to getting the necessary clearances as he suffered a grade three tear in the Ranji trophy playing for Delhi.

With Rohit Sharma ruled out, the toss up for the second opener to partner Mayank Agarwal could be between Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw. Shaw and Agarwal are also part of the ODI squad. But Shaw got three opportunities and didn’t create much of an impact whereas Shubman Gill has been piling on the runs for India A against New Zealand A recently.

Gill has the backing of runs under him, having smashed 83 and an unbeaten 204 for India A in the first four-day fixture in Christchurch against New Zealand A. Shaw, meanwhile, has been in good limited-overs form, having impressed in the one-day leg of the India A series in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav has lost favour of the selectors as he was left out of the squad altogether, with R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja picked as the frontline spin options alongside five pacers.  Interestingly, almost exactly a year ago, on February 5, 2019, India head coach Ravi Shastri had called Kuldeep “our primary overseas spinner” in Test cricket, following his five-wicket haul in the Sydney Test in January.

It remains his last Test appearance. Navdeep Saini, who is uncapped in Tests, was also rewarded with a call-up. Rishabh Pant retained his place alongside first-choice Wriddhiman Saha, who has recovered from a finger injury he sustained during the Bangladesh Test in Kolkata.

Bumrah, too, had missed the home Test series against South Africa and Bangladesh with injury, and eased his way back into action during the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. In January, he had also been pulled out of the Ranji Trophy, but has now regained his rhythm after playing a starring role in India’s 5-0 sweep of New Zealand in the T20I series. Bumrah has been out of rhythm and lacked his usual potency in the ODI series that India lost 0-3.

Meanwhile, Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane will prep up for the Tests by turning out for India A in the second four-day fixture, which begins on February 7. The first Test will begin in Wellington on February 21 and the second in Christchurch on February 29.

Here we look at India’s predicted XI for their two match Test series against New Zealand that begins on February 21st, 2020:

1. Shubman Gill

When Shubman Gill received his maiden Test call-up for the three-match series against South Africa, he was one of the three openers picked. Unfortunately for him, the other two, Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal were the ones who played and went on to put on an exhibition of opening batting. Essentially, it was Rohit who kept Gill out of the playing XI as Mayank Agrawal had already sealed his spot with decent performances against Australia and West Indies. Around four months later, with Rohit Sharma out of the New Zealand tour due to a calf strain, it is Shubman Gill who has rightfully retained his place in the Test squad and is in line for a debut.

While Gill’s List A record (an average of over 45) is good, it is not remarkable. His first-class record though, is truly extraordinary. From just 20 matches, the batsman has piled up close to 2,000 runs at a ridiculous average of 71.32, including six centuries. The thing that is rare among modern-day batsmen and one that separates Gill from the boys is his ability to play big innings. It has more to do with his natural run-making ability and free-flowing style and less with grinding it out. At just 20, Gill has the best of 268 in first-class cricket, a feat many only achieve in their mid-twenties.

The right-hander is renowned for his ability to pick the gaps and cream boundaries rather than muscle the ball out of the park. By that yardstick, Gill does not have bad numbers in the IPL either. An average of close to 35 and a strike rate of 130+ is more than acceptable for a batsman having featured in only two seasons.

Gill played an unbeaten knock of 204 runs against New Zealand A and helped India A go away with a draw in the first unofficial Test of the two-match series. Gill registered a double hundred which was the final day of the Test match. In his innings, Gill scored 22 boundaries and four sixes and his partnership along with Hanuma Vihari helped India A salvage a draw.

2. Mayank Agarwal

The Karnataka and KXIP batsman who made his ODI debut in the recently concluded series against New Zealand, Mayank made his Test debut against Australia on 26 December 2018. Agarwal slowly built his innings where the first boundary of the day came from his bat only. The first six of the innings hit by him as well. After lunch, a couple of boundaries off Nathan Lyon took Agarwal to his maiden Test half-century. He scored 76 runs in the first innings at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This was the highest score by an Indian on a Test debut in Australia, surpassing the record of 51 runs by Dattu Phadkar, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in 1947.

Mayank Agarwal has set an example to every cricketer who spends season after season in the domestic circuit – that if you are persistent and unrelenting, you can make it big at the international level. Following up on his maiden ton in Vizag, he once again came up with another brilliant century and while he could not do a repeat of a “daddy hundred”, he still played a mighty fine innings. After Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat on a hazy morning at Pune, India would have been expecting another solid start from the newly-formed opening partnership of Rohit Sharma and Mayank Agarwal.

As he was approaching towards the 90s and edging closer to his second century in two Test Matches, he decided to take on and in true Virender Sehwag style – whom Agarwal claimed as his idol- hit two sixes off consecutive deliveries to get to 99. In the next over, Agarwal guided an outside the off-stump delivery from Philander past the first slip to the third man boundary to reach the landmark. As he celebrated with lofted arms and a look towards the heavens, he must have been so relieved to finally make his mark at the international level and truly cement his place in the Indian Test side.

3. Cheteshwar Pujara

 Even in today’s fast-paced world of cricket, in which T20 cricket is preferred over Test cricket by the entertainment-seeking audience, no true cricketer would let Test cricket fade away. For any cricketer, the real test of his cricketing skills comes only in a Test match: there requires the same amount of technique, if not better than other forms of cricket, high stamina, calmness, concentration, patience, and most importantly, timely judgement.

Filling in the shoes of Rahul Dravid is no easy task. The task is made tougher because of the criticism of being boring and not a pleasure to watch for the viewers. Pujara is not in contention to be picked into the ODI team which means that he will not play the cricket World Cup or might not be picked by any team in the Indian Premier League.

It might mean that immediately after a Test series, Pujara will be forgotten by the average fan. But Pujara should not alter his game to please his critics as he is the bedrock that helps the Indian batting line-up flourish. For the Indian team, and for Test cricket, Pujara being himself is important, very important.

4. Virat Kohli (C)

Virat Kohli has been India’s most accomplished Test batsman among the crop of players. The free-flowing stroke maker has been in superlative form with the bat ever since donning the captaincy hat. The prolific run-scoring machine who has all the shots in his batting armoury has been a heavy run scorer for India in bilateral series played at home.

The Indian Test skipper’s 50 to 100 conversion is the best among all Indian batsmen and he usually goes on get daddy hundreds once he gets his eye in. Over the last three years, Kohli leads the run-scoring charts for India in red ball cricket. As a captain, he has led from the front by scoring five double tons, the most by an Indian captain in Tests.

For someone who prides himself him on converting his starts to big scores, VK must be seething and waiting to get back into scoring ways against the Kiwis in the Test series. He just needs one good session to get into his zone, and when that happens it would be worrying signs for the hosts.

5. Ajinkya Rahane (VC)

India have players with aggressive attitudes. The likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli don’t hold back in terms of their demeanour. In every team you need someone to balance the batting line-up, someone who is very strong mentally and who has a Zen like exterior to handle some tough situations in a very calm and patient manner.

India have a very strong batting line up consisting of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha and the all-rounders Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. But the batsman who brings the best balance to this batting line-up is Ajinkya Rahane.  He is someone who comes in the middle order, brings in the right solidity to the batting line-up and along with Pujara stabilizes the innings. Rahane comes in usually when there is a need to stabilize the innings or build on a partnership, both aspects which he has shown to be capable of handling with ease.

Every aggressive captain needs someone who can calm him down, help him with decision making-on and off the field and more importantly who understands him and his style of captaincy well. India is lucky to have found that with the Kohli – Rahane combination. Rahane has found ways to assist Kohli on the field. Be it with setting the right fields for bowler or making the decisive bowling changes or helping out with DRS decisions, his importance is rather underplayed and not talked about much.

6. Ravindra Jadeja

India have been playing with five bowlers, five batsmen and a wicket-keeper who is a capable batsman himself. But by asking Jadeja to bat at 6 ahead of Saha, Kohli showed immense faith in the batting ability of his all-rounder.

This successful experiment of having Jadeja bat at No. 6 in Test matches should be persisted with, especially if India go in with five bowlers. And when they go in with four bowlers, he can still be asked to bat at 6 so that his position remains the same regardless of India’s team composition.

Jadeja’s batting, especially in longer formats, is nothing to be scoffed at – both in international games (Tests) and domestic tournaments (first-class). In 45 Test matches, he has scored at an average of almost 35, with one century. And in 98 first-class matches, he has scored 5651 runs at an average of about 47.

7. Wriddhiman Saha (wk)

Saha was out of international cricket for a period of nearly 21 months due to an injury but given his exploits as a wicketkeeper, he has forced his way back into the Test team. Saha, has been one of the best keepers in the country and had an opportunity to be a regular part of the Test team only after the retirement of MS Dhoni in 2014.

Saha has had a stop-start international career and has seen many ups and downs. He has made numerous comebacks in the Indian team in the last nine years and has always given his best on the cricket field. Given his strong performances in domestic cricket and List A cricket throughout his career, he has always been the go-to man for team India in the last decade or so.

He was always the back-up keeper when MS. Dhoni was keeping wickets in Tests. In 172 first-class innings, the keeper batsman averages 43.07 with 13 hundreds to his credit. He has been exceptional behind the stumps and has effected 34 stumpings and taken 288 catches and is an exceptional keeper. He averages 42.49 in List A cricket and has impressed every time he has gotten opportunities.

8. Ravichandran Ashwin

Records, on the face of it, will portray the credentials of a cricketer. But once you dive deep into it and analyse it in greater depth, it reveals the true picture. At this juncture let us look at the record of Ashwin after his incredible achievement of bagging his 27th five-wicket hauls in Tests.

Ashwin has been a champion off-spinner for India. Right from the time he made his Test debut for Team India in 2011, he has consistently delivered several match-winning spells and has created ripples in the opposition batsmen. Need to put an end to a frustrating partnership? Turn to Ashwin. Need an extra batsman who can contribute useful runs lower down the order? Turn to Ashwin. Want to take early wickets with the new ball? Turns to Ashwin. He has played a pivotal role in India reaching the top of the Test rankings.

Looking at his home-and-away record, it is evident that Ashwin has tasted remarkable success at home, while in away matches he hasn’t been at his true best. His average and strike-rate are much higher in away Tests. It is the only thing that will go against this world-class spinner- his inability to strike often overseas. He will be looking at changing that a bit when India take on the Kiwis soon.

9. Mohammed Shami

Watching Shami bowl in full flow is pure joy. He steams in like a quintessential pacer, releasing the cherry with a seam presentation that could put veteran Jimmy Anderson to shame. The pace is right up there in the 140s. The ball is methodically pitched fuller to entice the drive. The immaculate line gives absolutely nothing away. The snaring bumper can deflate egos. And that’s not to forget the prodigious movement he extracts off the deck, eventually forcing the opposition batsman into submission.

But flashbacks of an exhausted Shami panting while trudging back to his run-up mark or being dispatched to every corner of the ground by rampant pinch-hitters are still fresh in our memories. In hindsight, life has been particularly generous towards Shami in recent years. Missing just one fixture out of the 14 Tests India played in the 2018-19 calendar, Shami continued to impress with his newfound control and fitness. Bagging 16 wickets in 4 Tests on an arduous tour Down Under, he stood on the verge of conquering the white-ball domain.

India’s tour of New Zealand proved to be even better for the Indian speedster. Running in with ferocious intensity, Shami painstakingly hovered around the fourth stump line, troubling Martin Guptill and Colin Munro with swing early on while finding the block-hole to perfection at the death. The seamer has extremely fond memories of New Zealand and he would be looking to build on that when he plays in the first Test starting on February 21, 2020.

10. Jasprit Bumrah

Having picked 62 wickets at a staggering average of 19.24 in just 12 matches since his Test debut against South Africa in January 2018, Jasprit Bumrah has risen up the ranks at a rapid pace in the longest format and reiterated his position as a top bowler in the world.

Bumrah was India’s wrecker-in-chief as he picked 13 wickets at an average of just 9.23 in the recently concluded series. During this period, he also became the first Asian bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul each in South Africa, England, Australia, and West Indies.

Bumrah gained phenomenally in the ICC Test rankings after every match he has featured in since his debut.

Even when Jasprit Bumrah was picked for South Africa tour in 2018 after an impressive IPL for Mumbai Indians, questions were raised about his red-ball capabilities. However, Bumrah shone in his very first Test tour, picking up 14 wickets in just 3 Tests. Bumrah picked up 4 wickets in his debut Test to rise to 85th in the ICC Test bowlers rankings. Bumrah also took his maiden five-wicket haul with figures of 5 for 54 in the 3rd Test and gained 43 ranks to reach 42nd rank in the bowling charts.

He had a rather lukewarm ODI series against the Kiwis and would look to put on his best when India look to extend their stay at the top of the ICC World Test Championship table standings.

11. Umesh Yadav

Primarily an attacking weapon, Yadav boasts tons of pace and is used as a partnership-breaker, meaning that he may sometimes be prone to the odd expensive spell. However, on the road, where he is expected to be the spearhead, he just struggles, courtesy a couple of aspects.

Firstly, Virat Kohli’s India  are inclined to crowd the opposition batsmen more, thereby providing Umesh with more close-in fielders than he might be accustomed to. Inevitably, that leaves gaps elsewhere which are exploited by the batsmen as they capitalise on the fast bowler’s pace to maximise their scoring options.

In that respect, Yadav is quite similar to a bowler of the ilk of Imran Tahir, who also likes his field to be spread out a touch at the outset before feeling confident enough to try out his variations.

Secondly, consistency in line and length isn’t Umesh’s greatest strength, although he has evolved considerably since his international bow. Yet, when the aforementioned deficiency comes to the fore, it allows the pressure to be released, thereby enabling the batsmen to wait for the loose ball, rather than fervently searching for it.