Mumbai (Maharashtra):The Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team will be taking on New Zealand in the third and final Test of the series at the iconic Wankhede stadium here on Friday, November 1, 2024. This match is dead rubber in terms of the series, but it brings huge importance as both sides would like to win it and boost their World Test Championship (WTC) final, scheduled to be held in June next year.
It has been almost two decades since India came into a Test match of a home series having already lost it and ironically, that was at the same venue as well. That was the fourth Test against Australia, with the visitors having already won the first and third matches of the series. India produced a rank turner at the time, resulting in the match lasting just three days and the hosts winning by 13 runs, bundling their Aussies innings for mere 93 runs in chase of 107-run target.
The pitch looks to be a rank turner, knowing the fact that the hosts had lost the second match on spin friendly track in Pune. In addition to it, when previously this two teams played a Test match at this venue, New Zealand's left-arm orthodox spinner Ajaz Patel picked up all ten wickets in an innings, becoming the only third bowler to achieve this feat in history of the Test cricket. The other two cricketers are England’s Jim Laker (1956) and India’s Anil Kumble (1999).
Ajaz’s 10/119 stands as a reminder of how special moments can emerge in even the toughest circumstances, making it a proud and emotional moment for the spinner in the city of his birth.
The home team management has asked the Mumbai Cricket Association to prepare a pitch that will "help spinners from Day 1". The presence of red soil will aid sufficient bounce in addition to the spin, it will also give a slight edge to the pacers as the pitch offers extra bounce.
India's premium spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were outbowled by the opposition. But, importantly, both Jadeja and Ashwin have enjoyed success at the Wankhede Stadium. In five Tests, Ashwin has picked up 38 wickets at 18.42, the highest tally by any bowler on this ground. In his only game, Ravindra Jadeja managed six wickets too.
The last time India were whitewashed by the visitor side at home was in February 2000 when South Africa outplayed them 2-0. But India have never seen whitewash in a three or more Test match series.
India's defeat in the first Test in the current series marked the first time they had lost to New Zealand at home in the format since 1988. Their loss in the second marked the first time ever that they had lost a Test series at home to New Zealand. It also ended a record 18-match winning streak at home. The first Test had conditions that were much closer to home for the Kiwis, with the visitors using only pacers in India's first innings and bowling them out for a record low of 46 runs. Moreover, India staged an extraordinary comeback in the second innings as well.
Head coach Gautam Gambhir, whose tenure has strated with a loss in his first Test series, reiterated that India need to be an adaptable batting side. "We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That's what growth is and that's what test cricket is all about," Gambhir told reporters on Thursday.
"Test cricket can't be played in a single manner because it's about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it's about playing sessions. If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we'll have a lot of runs on the board," said Gambhir.
