India vs New Zealand 1st Test: New Zealand head coach Gary Stead attended the virtual press conference ahead of the first Test in Kanpur.
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India will take on New Zealand in the first test of the two-game series on 25 November 2021 in Kanpur. Both sides met each other in the WTC Final, where New Zealand took the crown. This series is also a part of the WTC, so both games are going to be crucial.
New Zealand won the last bilateral series against India at home, but they have never won in India. The Kiwis have rested Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme for this series. Team India is also without players like Virat, Rohit, Rishabh, Shami, and Bumrah, whereas KL Rahul is also injured.
Gary Stead, head coach of New Zealand addressed the press ahead of the game in Kanpur.
India vs New Zealand 1st Test: Gary Stead hints at playing three spinners
Gary Stead has hinted that the traditional way of playing four pacers will not work in India. He insisted that the team can play three spinners in this game. The Kiwis have five spin options in Mitchell Santner, William Somerville, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, and Glenn Phillips.
“The traditional way of playing four seamers and one part-time spinner can’t be the way to go over here [in India],” Stead said.
“You may see three spinners playing in this game and that will be decided once we have a look at the surface.”
“We know there will be differences as in Kanpur you will have black clay and in Wankhede, you will have red clay. These are certain adaptations that we have to make.”
Training time in Kanpur 🏏 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/LyjYHIG04k
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 23, 2021
India were criticized a lot about the tracks in the last series against England at home. Stead revealed that he does not have a say in pitches, but he expects the pitches to be better in this series.
“Look, there’s no doubt those were challenging conditions but the difference is that we have two Tests at two different venues and they (England) were playing multiple Tests at the same ground (two in Chennai and two in Ahmedabad),” Gary said.
Kanpur last hosted a test game in 2016, where India defeated New Zealand by 197 runs. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined for 16 wickets in that game.
