India will be locking horns with New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series at Basin Reserve, Wellington, starting Friday. Earlier, the men in blue won the T20I series 5-0 but went on to win the ODI series that followed 0-3. The team had suffered some injury concerns and the responsibility now lies on some young shoulders to see it through in Test cricket.
India will nevertheless start as the favourites as they have won all seven of their games played so far in the ICC Test Championship while the New Zealand team is standing at the sixth position in the points table with a single win.
As the focus shifts on India’s Test team, deputy skipper, Ajinkya Rahane made the headlines. He was seen getting ready for a press conference in a video that surfaced on Twitter and he was seen having a conversation in Marathi, with another journalist, Sunandan Lele, who is also responding in the same.
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Rahane was seen praising New Zealand’s scenic beauty and sparing some kind words for a lake in Queenstown, he brought in some India connection by saying it can be enjoyed even more with a cup of coffee and ‘poha’, a popular Maharashtrian food.
Ajinkya Rahane is every tourist in New Zealand 🖼️#NZvIND pic.twitter.com/MKMasbwRNk
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) February 20, 2020
Rahane played an unbeaten knock of 101 for India ‘A’ against New Zealand ‘A’ in Lincoln earlier this month though could not manage more than 18 in the three-day practise match against New Zealand XI at the Seddon Park in Hamilton as preparation for the Test series. These are the matches that the Mumbai batsman has featured in as part of his conditioning for the windy conditions in Wellington that would pose a challenge to the Indian batting line-up.
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However, India has won only two-match Test series in New Zealand in history although they have toured that country nine times. While MAK Pataudi led them to win a series 3-1 in 1967-68, former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni captained them to a 1-0 win in 2008-09. The first Test will begin at 4 am in India on Friday.
