New Zealand tour of India 2016 will begin from today. The first test will start on 22 September 2016 at Kanpur. India’s last series against WI was so good for India from four test matches India won two and two had been drawn. From t20 series India lost one and second abandoned because of rain. V Kohli scored 251 runs in four test match innings and he was the top runs scorer from both teams and he also scored 200 runs. Have Rahane scored 243 runs in four innings with 108 highest and got the second position in highest runs scoring list.

R Ashwin batted unbelievable four innings with 235 runs total in four innings with 118 highest. KL Rahul scored 236 runs in three innings with 158 highest. R Ashwin took 17 wickets in seven innings and he took most wickets in test series. Mohammed Shami took eleven wickets.

Toss: India won the toss and elected to bat

Match Timings: 09:30 local time (04:00 GMT)

India team
KL Rahul, M Vijay, CA Pujara, V Kohli*, AM Rahane, RG Sharma, R Ashwin, WP Saha†, RA Jadeja, UT Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

New Zealand team
TWM Latham, MJ Guptill, KS Williamson*, LRPL Taylor, L Ronchi, MJ Santner, BJ Watling†, MD Craig, IS Sodhi, TA Boult, N Wagner.

Watch Online New Zealand tour of India 2016 1st Test Day 1 Complete HD Highlights Today Between Ind v NZ at Kanpur, Thursday, September 22nd, 2016.

The cracks on the pitch were plain to see two days before the Test, but the groundsmen have promised this won’t be a repeat of Nagpur. The Nagpur pitch didn’t see any water in the lead-up to the Test, this one is getting watered. The cracks are neither loose nor powdery. Yet in the heat, the pitch is expected to break up fairly soon. Expect a lot of turns and reverse swing. Also, don’t be surprised if the middle of the pitch is lifeless and the spinners’ business areas are full of action.

New Zealand has had some decisions made for them with the injuries to Tim Southee and Jimmy Neesham. They, too, are expected to play all three of their spinners. Trent Boult should play. With reverse swing expected, Neil Wagner becomes a big factor, but do they want two left-arm quicks, not least because they will only create rough for Ashwin to play with? Doug Bracewell is a better batsman than Wagner, which could become a factor. Martin Guptill should open despite his failures in the warm-up game in Delhi, and Luke Ronchi’s century.

With Ishant Sharma ruled out with chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral infection, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is almost a certainty in the Indian XI. Under Virat Kohli as a full-time captain, India has played the first Test with five bowlers, but this time the indications are that they believe they can win on this Kanpur pitch with four bowlers. That could mean another chance for Rohit Sharma. “We spoke about solidifying the batting a little bit more. All the teams have quality spinners and you don’t want to leave a window for the opposition teams to capitalize,” Kohli said in a press conference.

If India does go in with five bowlers, Umesh Yadav could be brought in to utilize the reverse swing available. From the activity in the nets, it seems India has made up their minds to leave Shikhar Dhawan out.

Test no. 2221 | 2016/17 season
Played at Green Park, Kanpur
22,23,24,25,26 September 2016 (5-day match)

Umpires – RA Kettleborough and RJ Tucker
TV umpire – AK Chaudhary
Match referee – DC Boon
Reserve umpire – CK Nandan