India-New Zealand test series: Need for speed

The sight of a pitch with a fair smattering of grass and premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah putting in the hard yards at nets might be the early signs of India sticking to the three pacers theory for the first Test against New Zealand starting here from Wednesday.

Keeping in mind next month’s trip to Australia, where pacemen will have to shoulder the bulk of bowling, India have been giving more exposure to their quicks since the recent home series against Bangladesh.

Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep did the duty against Bangladesh, and the hosts might persist with the trio against the Kiwis as well.

The weather prediction for the next few days is also for gloomy hours here, strengthening the case of going in with three quicks.

However, head coach Gautam Gambhir kept the cards close to his chest. “It (combination) depends on conditions, wicket and opposition. The best part about this dressing room is that we’ve got so many high-quality players and we can select any of them. We know they can do the job for us. That is what is called the depth. We’ll have a look at the wicket tomorrow and see what the best combination is,” Gambhir said.

However, Gambhir, skipper Rohit Sharma and other members of the think-tank will certainly consider the recent struggles New Zealand batters went through against Sri Lankan spinners.

The Kiwis lost 37 wickets to the Lankan spinners led by left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya while getting blanked in the two-Test series last month.

India can bank on left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel, who is also a handy lower-order batter, and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

So, will India explore that option here? “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of quality, not only Kuldeep Yadav, but we’ve got a lot of other quality bowlers in the squad. I’ve said it before as well that we don’t leave anyone out. We only select the playing 11 who can do the job for us,” said Gambhir, not closing the option of an extra spinner alongside Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

If the pitch and conditions remain the same, New Zealand won’t complain because it can bring their pacers into the game. In that case, they will depend heavily on strapping pacer William O’Rourke to rattle the Indian line-up.

O’Rourke was their most successful bowler against Sri Lanka, taking eight wickets despite not having any assistance from the Galle pitch.

New Zealand top-order batter Rachin Ravindra spoke about his expectations from the Bengaluru pitch. “You see a lot of fast bowlers taking wickets here. It might not be as turning as what we might expect in Mumbai,” said Ravindra.