Former Indian cricketer Ambati Rayudu slammed New Zealand’s strategy of preparing bowling-friendly pitches in the ongoing five-match ODI series against India. He added that the Black Caps were just hoping to win the toss and put India in to bat first. Rayudu also suggested that the hosts should instead look to use pitches that would behave the same in both innings as well.

He said on Cricbuzz: “They are just taking a punt on Indian team batting first and getting their bowlers into the game early. But sometimes luck doesn’t favor you, and I don’t think it’s the right way to go because you just need to prepare a track that is going to be similar in both innings; otherwise, you are going to face such kind of problems.”

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Murali Kartik also stated New Zealand should consider a proxy captain, given Mitchell Santner’s poor luck with the toss as well.

“They have to send some proxy captain. Virat Kohli had Faf du Plessis and Temba Bavuma alongside me because Faf wasn’t winning anything at home. Out of the seven tosses, Santner has lost six. He has only won one. They need to send a proxy captain because they are making tracks like this,” he added.