After wining T20 series against New Zeland, Team India surrendered meekly in the ODI series and lost ther first Test match against New Zeland in their overseas tour.
Skipper Kohli had an indifferent tour of New Zealand so far. He was out for 2 and 19 in the first Test in Wellington. He is a quality player. He needs one good hit to get his rhythm back. He has done it for long time and did it in all conditions.
Recently he lost his first place in ICC Test Rankings to Australia’s Steve Smith.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami might have had a below par game in Wellington but many say that they remain world class bowlers and Kiwis would be certainly wary of them.
The Indian bowling line-up is very strong.
Bumrah had a couple of injuries and he is coming back. Ashwin is picking wickets. Ishanth is the strike bowler. If Bumrah and Shami gets into groove, it would become difficult for New Zealand.
It is a good sign that coach Ravi Shastri has kept faith on young batsman Prithvi Shaw. He has confirmed that Prithvi will continue to play as Opener.
Prithvi is ready to go, Shastri said in a press conference on the eve of the second Test.
Notably, Shaw has opened the batting for India in the absence of Rohit Sharma alongside Mayank Agarwal in the first Test in Wellington.
However, he failed to click with the bat and was caught by Trent Boult for 16.