IND vs NZ | 1st Test, Day 1: Shubman Gill hits fifty, but Kyle Jamieson keeps Blackcaps in game

New Zealand have made their way back on the first day of the ongoing first Test against India in Kanpur with big wickets of Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara in quick succession.

Kyle Jamieson was the pick of the Kiwi bowlers and picked up both the openers Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill to deny India any chance to get away with the game. He first tested Agarwal outside his off stump continuously before finally getting the edge of his bat to the wicketkeeper Tom Blundell.

After his fall, Gill played some crips drives and lofted shots off the left-arm spin bowling of Ajaz Patel and reached his third fifty in the longest format. He and Cheteshwar Pujara took India to lunch without any further damage.

He looked all set for a big score and was batting fluently before Jamieson came back right after the lunch interval to sneak through his defence. Gill’s departure brought the under-pressure duo of Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who is leading the side in absence of Virat Kohli together at the crease.

Both batted with some control as New Zealand spinners offered them loose deliveries to capitalise on. However, Kane Williamson quickly switched back to his pacers and introduced Tim Southee from one end and he produced the much-needed wicket of Pujara to take his 350th wicket in the format and left India in some sort of trouble.

The debutant Shreyas Iyer and Rahane have the task of leading the hosts to a good total in the first innings. Notably, they are without Rishabh Pant and they don’t have any specialist batsman left behind them in the playing XI.

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Nathan Lyon approves Cummins, Smith as 'two best candidates' to become Australia's Test captain

Nathan Lyon will have “no dramas” with either Steve Smith or Pat Cummins becoming the next skipper of Australia’s Test side as “they are probably the two best candidates” in his views. Notably, Cricket Australia has appointed a five-member panel to select the next captain of the side after Tim Paine resigned from the leadership position due to a historic scandal. Both Cummins and Smith have been interviewed by the committee including the chairman of selectors George Bailey and Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley but the former has garnered more support from the pundits and former players of the game. Lyon recalled his playing days for New South Wales under Cummins and said that he will make a good leader of the side. He also assured all support from senior players including himself if he will be appointed the next skipper. On the other hand, he rated Smith as a “great cricket mind” and one of the best batters going around the world cricket which can bring immense value to the Australian Test side. "I think you look at the two guys who have been interviewed by Australia for the two roles, I think they're probably the two best candidates in my eyes," Lyon said. "Playing under Pat at New South Wales cricket in the one-day set up last year, I think he did a really good job, to be honest with you. I know it's going to be a different kettle of fish, but he's got a lot of senior players around him to support Pat if he does get the nod. But then you look at Steve Smith, I think Smithy is up there with the best batters in the world. He's got a great cricket mind and I've got no dramas with both of them putting their hand up for the captaincy, to be honest with you." The first Test of Ashes is scheduled to start on December 09 at Gabba in Brisbane.

Ricky Ponting sees Tim Paine saga as 'distraction' for Australia in upcoming Ashes series

Australia’s two-time world cup winning captain Ricky Ponting has said that the resignation of Tim Paine as the captain of the side just a few days before the upcoming Ashes series will be a distraction for the players during the big series. However, he said that Paine took a huge call to serve the better purpose of Australian cricket. He said that the issue will not be left behind when Paine joins the side and plays in Brisbane and the talks around the scandal will stick around him for whatever time he will be around in the Australian team. He suggested that the players must make an effort to move on from the saga and knuckle down the issue as soon as possible. "I think inevitably it will (be a distraction)," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "Yes, he's made a huge call for himself, for Australian cricket and for the betterment of the Australian cricket team. But it's not going to go away.” "We're only a few weeks out from the first Test – it will bubble along. As much as we would all love to see it go away and there comes a point where it's never talked about, it's inevitable that it's going to be there. If he plays in Brisbane (for the first Test), the rest of the group and everyone needs to move on and do the best they can to forget about it and knuckle down.” "Unfortunately for Tim he's going to get asked about it everywhere he goes. Whenever you make mistakes and you've got to front up in front of the cricket-loving public, you have some doubts in the back of your mind for a period of time." Paine resigned from captaincy after an investigation report of a scandal when he texted his female colleague obscene messages was about to come out. He was cleared in a preliminary investigation but Paine said that as he realised the details of those messages would be made public, he put his hands up saying it would not have met the standards of an Australian captain. Cricket Australia has appointed a five-member panel to select the next skipper of Australia and the vice-captain Pat Cummins and former captain Steve Smith are the frontrunners to replace Paine as the skipper.

IND vs NZ | 1st Test: Shreyas Iyer, Rachin Ravindra make Test debut as teams field spin-heavy attacks

Both India and New Zealand fielded one uncapped player each in the first Test of the series starting today in Kanpur. India handed the Test cap to Shreyas Iyer while the Blackcaps handed Test debut to Rachin Ravindra. India had already announced Iyer’s debut in the game while New Zealand had only hinted at playing a three-man spin attack that led to the possibility of playing Ravindra as a spin-bowling all-rounder. India are significantly under-strength with as many as six of the first choice picks including the skipper Virat Kohli missing out from the first Test while opener Rohit Sharma, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has been rested from the entire series. Both sides played three spinners in their playing XI and that could tell a lot about the nature of the pitch at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. The two-match Test series is part of the next round of the World Test Championship and both New Zealand and India are making a fresh start after meeting in the final of the maiden edition of the World Test Championship.

IND vs NZ | Nobody from Indian team management asked for turning pitch says Green Park curator

Curator Shiv Kumar, who oversees pitch development at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur where the first Test between India and New Zealand is scheduled to begin from November 25, said that he has not been asked by Indian team management or BCCI to prepare any specific wicket for the first game. Thus, to make the game interesting, he has prepared a sporting wicket that would last more than four days for sure. "Neither did we get any instruction from BCCI nor did anyone from the team management contact me asking for a rank turner. I have prepared a pitch keeping guidelines for a good pitch in mind,” Shiv Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. "There would be some amount of moisture as you expect in the month of November at this part of the world. However, I can assure you that it is a firm track and won't break down easily,” he added. Instead of blaming the wickets for the past few series, especially the last series when England visited India and the matches ended in only three days, Kumar said that it has also got to with the batsman’s temperament. "Some of the matches that ended inside three days had a lot to do with how modern batters with T20 temperament approach spinners. I am confident that the match won't end inside three days,” he said. India and New Zealand will play two Tests as part of the World Test Championship 2021-23 and it would be the first series in New Zealand’s WTC title defence.