India will lock horns against New Zealand in the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai from Friday onwards. The Kiwis had taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the series after winning the second Test comprehensively by 113 runs.
The visitors have ticked the right boxes in the first two Test matches and have come up with a collective effort, which has helped them win their maiden Test series on the Indian soil. Mitchell Santner was brilliant for the tourists in the previous match, bagging a total of 13 wickets in the match to breathe down the neck of the home batters.
On the other hand, India hasn’t been up to the mark in the first two games, especially with the bat. The Indian batters have failed to put enough runs on the board and it has led to team’s undoing. Veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have seemed to lose their aura and they will want to be at their best in the final Test of the series.
Regular collapses with the bat hasn’t allowed the Indian team to get back in the first two Test matches and they will want to turn a corner.
According to reports, India is expected to prepare a sporting pitch, which makes more sense than a rank-turner, which had led to team’s downfall in Pune.
Match Prediction: After winning the first two Test matches, New Zealand will enter this contest as slightly favourites against India.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana.
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (c), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
