Bengaluru, October 14
Ahead of the three-match series against New Zealand, Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir backed star batter Virat Kohli to come good in the series and the highly anticipated tour to Australia, noting that he was as hungry as he was during his debut.
India will be hoping to continue their home dominance as they take on New Zealand for a three-match Test series from October 16, starting with the first Test in Bengaluru. Virat's runs will be playing a crucial role to India's success. Though Virat has been consistent in the longer format since scoring his 28th Test century, his first in three years against Australia back in March last year, his struggle to play long Test knocks consistently in the whole of the 2020s decade is well-known.
In 31 Tests this decade, he has scored 1,745 runs at an average of 33.55, with just two centuries and eight fifties in 54 innings. This record looks really subpar as per the batter's mighty standards, having dominated the format in the 2010-2019 era.
In three Tests this year, Virat has scored 157 runs in six innings and three Tests at an average of 31.40, with best score of 47. In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle though, Virat has been doing well for himself, having made 468 runs in 10 innings at an average of 52.00, with a century and two fifties. His best score is 121. In the recently concluded Bangladesh series, Kohli scored just 99 runs in four innings, with best score of 47.
Speaking ahead of the game in a pre-match presser, Gambhir called Virat a "world-class cricketer".
"Virat has always been a world-class cricketer. He has performed for such a long period of time and he is as hungry as when he made his debut. I remember opening the batting with him when he made his debut in Sri Lanka. To now, his hunger is always there," said Gambhir.
"And that is what makes him a world class cricketer and I am sure that he will be hungry to get runs in this series and probably moving forward to Australia as well. And we know that once he gets into those runs scoring how consistent can he be," he added.
Virat has a fine record against New Zealand. In 11 Tests against the Kiwis, he has made 866 runs at an average of 45.57, with three centuries and three fifties in 21 innings. His best score is 211.
Speaking about selecting spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who did not play the Bangladesh Tests, Gambhir said, "We do not leave anyone out, we just select the playing eleven we feel can do the job. We have so many quality bowlers in our side, incluing Kuldeep."
The head coach acknowledged that New Zealand is a "different challenge" for India and are a "professional unit with some quality players who can hurt them".
"They have got players who can do the job for them as well, so we respect them, but we do not fear anyone. I have said it many times, that we will always respect every opposition, we want to be selfless, we want to be humble, we want to try and play the game as hard as possible on the cricket field," he added.
Speaking about run-scoring in modern Test cricket, Gambhir said that it is all about adaptability and Team India wants to a be unit which can score 400 runs within a day and also bat for two days straight in order to draw a match.
"You call that growth, you call that adaptability, you call that test cricket. If you play the same way, then it is not growth. We have players who can score 400 or 450 runs in one day, and there are also players who can bat for two days, to draw the test match. And we want to play the same type of cricket. No other type of cricket," he added.
The head coach also said that the team is not yet focusing on the ICC World Test Championship taking place at Lord's next year despite being at the top of the table, as currently, the focus is completely on New Zealand.
India named a 15-player squad on Friday for the upcoming three Tests against New Zealand, beginning on October 16 in Bengaluru. For the Bangladesh Tests, with Rohit Sharma leading the side, India left the position of vice-captain vacant. But this time, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been officially appointed as Rohit's deputy for the three Tests.
India has been extremely dominant in Test conditions, having not lost a Test series at home since their 1-2 loss to England in 2012-13 season. Since then, India has won 18 successive Test series at home and are undefeated in a series since over 4,000 days. On the other hand, New Zealand suffered a 2-0 series whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka away from home recently. The Tim Southee-led side was blanked in the opening Test that went right down the wire with a 63-run defeat and lost the second Test by an innings and 154 runs.
India's squad for the three Tests against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
Travelling reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (C), Tom Blundell (WK), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young.