File photo of Wankhede pitch© BCCI/Sportzpics
Trailing New Zealand 0-2, the Indian cricket team is gearing up for the third Test against the Kiwis at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, with nothing but a win in sight. Though the series has been lost, India are eyeing nothing less than a victory in Mumbai to boost their World Test Championship final hopes. However, a big change is expected to take place as far as the nature of the pitch is concerned as the two teams square off in the final encounter of the series.
Spinners have dominated proceedings in the first two matches of the series, generating turn from the first day itself. However, the Wankhede pitch is expected to be much different, offering a lot more to the batters on Day 1.
According to a report in the Times of India, a ‘sporting track’ has been laid in Mumbai which will also have some grass on it. Spinners aren’t expected to generate turn before the second day’s play.
“It will be a sporting track. Right now, there’s a bit of grass on the pitch. It’s expected to be good for batting on Day 1 but should offer turn to spinners from Day 2,” the paper quoted a source as saying.
What happened when India last played a Test against New Zealand at Wankhede?
India last featured in a Test match against New Zealand at Wankhede in Dec 2021. The match saw the hosts beat the Kiwis comprehensively by 372 runs, bowling them out for 62 and 167 on a pitch that offered quality assistance to spinners.
India, on the other hand, registered scores of 325 and 276/7 declared in the two innings. Ravichandran Ashwin claimed a whopping 8 wickets in the match across two innings for 42 runs. New Zealand’s Ajaz Patel re-wrote history books as he produced figures of 10/ 119 in the first innings before adding 4 more wickets to his tally for 104 runs in the second innings.
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