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[csnew]

All out 262, 56 looks like a big lead on this wicket now

[Felix Tito]

Really outstanding spin bowling partnership between the two Ravi's, guess it helps that they've been playing together for nearly 6/7 years now. Just read that Jadeja has 55 wickets in India at 15 a piece! Filthy!

[Felix Tito]

Funny to think with Jadeja's bowling now being his calling card, that he actually has 3/4 triple hundreds in domestic cricket. If he worked on his batting again, Ashwin and Jadeja could easily bat at 6 and 7.

[singapore rookie]

India needs to take a lead of 300 to have a winning total

[smilley792]

NZ in trouble here.

India left hemselve 4 sessions, they may not even need half of that!

Only two overs of seam so far, spin doing the damage

[csnew]

Village that from Taylor! 15 overs to go, could be 7-8 down by close

Ashwin the second fastest to 200 wickets.

[potzy248]

I must say its very exciting cricket. every ball I'm waiting for our batsman to get out.

[Felix Tito]

India wrapped up victory in the first Test on the fifth afternoon. But not before Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner made them sweat for a while. Ronchi batted brilliantly for his 80 and Santner dug in for a hard fought 57. Santner is a star in the making, no questions about it. But once they fell India's champion spinner Ashwin cleaned up to finish with 6-132 and match figures of 10-227. Ashwin's partner in crime Jadeja was named player of the match of his vital 42* in the first innings and them his match changing 5/73 which took the match away from New Zealand just as they where on your verge of taking control. Gotta admit it was brilliant match, better pitch than the ones during the South African series, and two sides going toe to toe. New Zealand's spinners aren't a match for the Indian counterparts at present.

Mark Craig has a side strain and is out of that series, veteran Jeetan Patel has been recalled for the the first time in 6 years.

[Felix Tito]

New Zealand's options for the second Test are set to remain limited with James Neesham still out with his rib injury. Coupled with Jeetan Patel's flight being delayed so he will only arrive at midnight on Wednesday.

[GoodLeave]

Just seen that Gautam Gambhir has been recalled. Very interesting. He's kinda like an Indian Ian Bell. Will be an interested spectator to see if the "Looking back to go forward" experiment would work for England in selecting Bell again. Seems to be very popular these days to keep looking to youth, let's see if selecting experience over youthful exuberance works.

[CrickFreak]

Picking Gambhir doesnt make sense. He has not played any international cricket for a while and he is 34. There are lot of young openers doing well at domestic level, playing home test will be ideal opportunity for them. Dhawan would have been my first choice though.

[sanredrose]

Gambhir is a troubled kid unlike Ian Bell. Bell lost his place due to poor performance but Gambhir was pretty much kicked out due to attitude problems. Same reason why Praveen Kumar is also sitting on the sidelines.

I am guessing that BCCI is giving him a chance to depart test arena gracefully. Since India has about 10+ tests lined up for the next 12 months, he might be able to bid adieu in a respectable fashion. I don't see how they will persist with Gambhir once KL Rahul is back to full fitness.

[Felix Tito]

Wasn't Gambhir recalled because he's actually been playing? He was captain of the side that won the Duleep trophy IIRC, but he's unlikely to get a game as Dhawan is the next cab of the rank

[rahul_1987]

Gambhir is just a replacement for a like to like spot i.e. opening the batting when Rahul is injured but personally I dont think he will feature in playing 11 with Dhawan being in the team. We will find out tomorrow anyway

[Felix Tito]

Second Test started this morning and India ended day 1 on 239/7. New Zealand made multiple changes Williamson ill, Craig injured and Sodhi dropped. Henry Nicholls, Jeetan Patel and Matt Henry coming into the playing XI. India made two changes with Rahul injured and Yadav dropped. Dhawan and Kumar came in.

Matt Henry was mighty impressive with the new ball as the Kiwis ran through the top order. Dhawan, Vijay and Kohli found wanting against the testing spells by Henry and Boult. Pujara 87 and Rahane 77 helped readdress the balance somewhat before the Kiwis fought back again. Jeetan Patel, 6 years after his last match, was fantastic. 2/66 from 30 overs on a day 1 pitch. He could easily have bagged more on another day.

Without Williamson India probably already ahead of the game. But India will want Saha and Jadeja to edge them up to 300. Exciting Test cricket being displayed in this series.