R Ashwin defines beauty of Test cricket ahead of IND vs NZ: It’s pinnacle of sport
India’s veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin defined the beauty of Test cricket in a video released by the BCCI on their official social media handle.
The video gave snippets of the Indian team’s practice session in Bengaluru with a voice-over by Ashwin from behind. The veteran spinner said that the format requires adaptability and every day the team needs to come up with a new approach and strategy. Meanwhile, the Indian team has been training hard in the nets ahead of the all-important Test series vs New Zealand.
“See, Test cricket is always about adaptability, right? You can’t start Day 5 like how you started Day 1. Every day you need to be able to adapt along with conditions. That’s why they say Test cricket is the pinnacle of this particular sport,” Ashwin said in the video. Ashwin will be back in action for India after he won the Player of the Series award for a 2-0 clean-sweep vs Bangladesh last month. He will hope to emulate a similar kind of performance against the Kiwis. With 527 Test wickets to his name, Ashwin has a chance to surpass Nathan Lyon’s tally of 530 and become the off-spinner with most wickets in the format from the current era.
IND vs NZ: What to expect
India host New Zealand for a three-match Test series, starting October 16, Wednesday. The 1st Test will take place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. New Zealand will be led by Tom Latham after Tim Southee stepped down from captaincy duties after their 0-2 Test series loss against Sri Lanka.
New Zealand have failed to win any of their last five Test matches, whereas India have won each of their last five matches in red-ball cricket. The Rohit Sharma-led side stand at the top of the points table of the World Test Championship rankings. The Indian team will aim to strengthen their position at the top as they currently have 74.24 PCT. New Zealand, on the other hand, slumped to sixth position in the rankings with 37.50 PCT.
India and New Zealand last played a Test match in Bengaluru back in 2012. India won the match by five wickets by playing just four specialist bowlers (two pacers and two spinners).