India v New Zealand 2012 – 1st Test Preview

By Admin
India-v-New-Zealand
The First Test match Between India and New Zealand of the 2 Match Series will start tomorrow (Aug 23-27, 2012) from The Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Uppal, Hyderabad. The match will begin at 9:30am, IST.

These two teams have only played one test match at this venue in 2010 series. But the match was draw.

Form guide (most recent listed first):

India: Lost, Lost, Lost, Lost, Drawn (4 losses, 1 draw)
New Zealand: Lost, Lost, Drawn, Lost, Drawn (3 losses, 2 draws)

Both teams have disappointing Tests results in the recent months. India was crushed by Australian team (4-0) earlier in the year, and also New Zealand team has lost consecutive test series vs. South Africa and West Indies respectively.

The Teams:

India’s biggest Challenge is to get their batting combination. Sachin Tendulkar is the only player left out of the 'Fabulous Five' Players after Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and S Badrinath are all in the race to replace Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman’s position possibly at No. 3 and No. 5 respectively. And also the team management is thinking about changing the opening batting order, like Ajinkya Rahane opens with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag might bat down the order.

Kiwis’ biggest weakness is they are missing the former captain Daniel Vettori, who is out of the series for his groin injury. Well, Jeetan Patel is replacing Vettori and he is in outstanding form, but he should continue his form against the Indian’s, who are the best players of spin in the world. The Kiwi pacers Chris Martin, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner and Doug Bracewell will have to fill in for Vettori’s absence.

Key players:

With the absence of Dravid and Laxman, there will be more pressure on Sachin Tendulkar to hold the middle-order Strong. And also Sachin will have to shoulder the responsibility by guiding the youngsters, and how to manage the challenging situation to bat in Tests.

New Zealand is depending on Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, and Martin Guptill. These top order batsmen have the batting experience in Indian conditions and they have to give a solid platform throughout the series.

Trivia:

Zaheer Khan wants 12 wickets to reach 300-wicket. If he gets this milestone in this series, he will be the fourth Indian player after Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Martin Guptill is the leading run-scorer for Kiwis’ and among both teams in Tests - 2012. He scored 450 runs from 11 innings, and 161 runs ahead of Kohli. Virat Kohli is the leading run-getter for India in tests - 2012.

Venue Stats:

Team
Played
Won
Lost
Tied
Drawn
Win %age
India
1
0
0
0
1
0.00
New Zealand
1
0
0
0
1
0.00

Highest total in an innings: India 472 all out in 143.4 overs v New Zealand - November 12, 2010

Lowest total in an innings: New Zealand 350 all out in 117.3 overs v India - November 12, 2010

Best individual score in an innings: Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) – 225 vs. India - November 12, 2010

Best bowling figures in an innings: Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) 49.4-7-135-5 vs. India – November 12, 2010

Head-to-Head:

Matches
Played
India won
NZ won
Drawn
Tied
Overall
50
16
9
25
0
In India
29
11
2
16
0
At Hyderabad
1
0
0
1
0

Last meeting between both sides: Nagpur, November 20-23, 2010

Brief scores: New Zealand 193 & 175 lost to India 566/8 decl. by an innings and 198 runs

The Squads:

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), SR Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, S Badrinath, SK Raina, Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav

New Zealand: Ross Taylor (c), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Daniel Flynn, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Chris Martin,Brendon McCullum, Tarun Nethula, Jeetan Patel, Tim Southee, Kruger van Wyk, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.

Related Links: 
New Zealand Tour of India schedule and Fixtures
New Zealand Squad for India Tour - 2012
India Test Squad v New Zealand Series 
India T20 Squad v NewZealand 

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