Men in Blue lost four wickets close to 150 runs and they were looking in trouble but the way Jadeja and Iyer rescued team India by building the partnership of 119 runs for the fifth wicket is a treat to watch for Indian fans on the first day at Green Park.
However one more innings where the team was looking up to Pujara and Rahane to rescue India but they failed to show resistance the question arises how long will team India back these two players as the thing which we should keep in consideration that these two players only play one format and not performing in solo format will raise serious questions on them.
India on stumps at day 1 scored 258 runs at the loss of four wickets if they manage to score 400 runs with the cracks developing on every single day it will ideally help three spinners in India’s lineup which include the trio Axar, Jadeja, and Ashwin.
Taking about New Zealand it is visible that they are missing Neil Wagner and Mitchell Santner as the latter was in good form in the recently concluded T20 series and he should have been fielded in place of Patel who is clearly struggling on this pitch.
India would be looking to score at least 400 runs in the first innings and with spinning, cracks developing it will not be easy for Black Caps batsmen to score against the likes of Ashwin and Patel. India would be looking to win these two test matches and take one step closer towards the second cycle of the World Test Championship.
India is playing their first test match without their first choice X1 due to workload but Skipper Kohli will be back for the second test in Mumbai and he would be eagerly looking to end the drought of his International century as it has been 2 years since he last scored 100.