India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: KL Rahul's spot in danger as IND look to maintain home invincibility

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: This stretch of home matches that India are playing was supposed to be the phase where they would all but lock in a spot for themselves in the WTC final next year. However, Rohit Sharma himself admitted that they misread the conditions. India's batters did no favours for their side by gifting their wickets in both innings. At the same time, they showed just how good a side they are at home when they managed to take the match into a fifth day and even looked to have a chance of winning at various points in the match despite being all out for a mere 46 runs in the first innings.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: We mentioned Shubman Gill returning to the squad in that previous post. It is all but officially confirmed that he is available for selection in this match. Gill had a regular workload in the nets leading up to the second Test and that normally is an indication of full fitness.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: One of the reasons why KL Rahul's spot is on shaky grounds despite the fact that he has got a fairly good recent record, despite the failure in the first Test, is because Shubman Gill is returning. He will slot right back into No.3, allowing Kohli to return to No.4 and Sarfaraz Khan at No.5. Now dropping Sarfaraz would be really difficult for the team management considering what he did in the first Test and if they go with a fourth spinner in Washington Sundar, the only person who can be dropped is Rahul really.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: We haven't had a look at the pitch yet today but there have been intermittent rains coupled with hot afternoons in Pune. About two days ago, the pitch looked dry and there had been some work going on to remove the grass on it.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: The talismanic former New Zealand captain is unavailable for the Kiwis for the second Test as well. Williamson hasn't even travelled to India after suffering the injury during the tour of Sri Lanka last month, and will remain at home to continue his rehabilitation. He is recovering from a ground strain.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: ...Virat Kohli scored a career-best 254 not out. It was the second Test against South Africa and India had batted first. Captain Kohli played 336 balls on his way to 254 and, a little surprisingly for everyone watching, declared when he looked good enough to reach a triple century. There was ample time left in the match for India to bowl out South Africa twice if he had stuck around to achieve that milestone. Instead, he decided to end the innings when Ravindra Jadeja fell for 91. Ravichandran Ashwin then took four wickets as South Arica were all out for 275 in their first innings after which 3-wicket hauls from Umesh Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja dismissed the Proteas for 189. India won by an innings and 137 runs.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal don't shy away from hitting a six or two in Test matches. This fact is reflected in the numbers. Yashasvi Jaiswal is four sixes away from equalling the most sixes in a calendar year in Tests while Rohit Sharma is two sixes away from equalling the all-time India record for most sixes in Test cricket

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: There were early reports of a slow turner being produced in Pune, which is something that India have done before whenever they lost the first Test at home. Now if Washington Sundar has been brought in with the intention of packing four spinners in the lineup, with three of them being genuine all-rounders, then it does look like KL Rahul will be sitting this one out. What makes a decision to drop Rahul unlikely, though, is the fact that India are playing in Australia next and the 32-year-old's away record in Test cricket makes him a potentially important cog in the team's plans for that tour.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: While India's current dominance at home in Test cricket is unprecedented, they have lost the first match of a series surprisingly frequently. They lost the first Test of their series against England earlier this year, before bouncing back to win 4-1. They also lost their first Test of the 2020/21 series against England in Chennai before winning that series 3-1. Before that, they had lost the first Test of the 2017 series against Australia and that happened, incidentally, in Pune.

It is interesting to note, though, that one has to go back seven years to find out an instance of India losing the first Test of a series before Pune 2017. That was against South Africa in the drawn 2009/10 series in which the visitors had won in Nagpur. Even more noteworthy is the fact that before the loss to New Zealand in Bengaluru, South Africa were the only team apart from England and Australia to have won the first Test of a series in India in this century. It is a testament to how strong India are, how strong that great South African team led by Graeme Smith was in the late 2000s and early 2010s and just how unimaginably huge an achievement the win in Bengaluru is for New Zealand.

India vs New Zealand Live Score, 2nd Test Day 1: First things first; the weather had a huge role to play in the last two Tests that India played - against New Zealand in Bengaluru and Bangladesh in Kanpur before that. Well, we might just have a match entirely uninterrupted by the weather for once. Pune has received rainfall in the last week or so, but chances of showers during the Test itself are minuscule. If anything, the players may have to deal with the infamous October heat that is so prevalent in Pune and Mumbai.