SL vs WI | 2nd Test | Day 4: Dhananjaya de Silva’s ton puts Sri Lanka in front

IND vs NZ | 2nd Test: Will have to adapt to weather conditions, says Tim Southee

With Mumbai receiving some showers, India and New Zealand would need to look into the team combination and prepare the final XIs accordingly. The Blackcaps pacer Tim Southee has admitted that the unseasonal rain has certainly got the teams to go back to drawing board and further added that the players need to adapt to the conditions now. "It'll probably be under covers again today and that's something we're gonna have to look at when we get down to the ground tomorrow. Hopefully Gary [Stead] and Kane [Williamson] can have a look at the look at the wicket this afternoon,” he said. “But yeah, it's a different lead in to what we're all expecting. No one was expecting too much rain in the leadup but that's just something we're gonna have to adapt to going forward over the next next five six days," Southee added. The change in the weather conditions might help the seamers during the course. "We won't know if it's going to swing until we're out there. So that's just something we're going to have to adapt to as bowlers,” he said. The first match of the two-Test series ended in a draw in Kanpur and the sides will now lock horns with each other in the second and final game in Mumbai. India Test and ODI captain Virat Kohli will be back in action after he was rested for the T20I series and the first Test against the Kiwis.

IND vs NZ | 2nd Test: Curators shave off grass from Wankhede pitch as India eye 'home advantage'

In a welcome development for the hosts India, layers of grass have been shaved off the good length area of the pitch to be used for the second and final Test of the series against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, TOI reported. The city has received heavy monsoon rains and hence having a tinge of grass on the pitch would have helped the tourists more than the home side who are clearly better off playing on surface assisting spinners. Furthermore, the groundsmen, under the experienced watch of BCCI’s chief curator Ashish Bhowmick, were also seen roughing up the surface using a brush as per the same report. India have not liked the idea of playing home Test matches on wickets that doesn’t offer assistance to their spinners and take a lot of time away from the game before breaking up. Hence, the first Test in Kanpur would have left the team management, especially, captain Kohli pretty disappointed with the slower and lower nature of the surface in Kanpur. Both India and New Zealand were to contend with only four points after the drawn first Test and Kohli would be desperate to gain 12 points with a win over the Blackcaps in Mumbai.

India tour of South Africa likely to be postponed, BCCI to ask CSA to cut short Test series: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to request Cricket South Africa (CSA) to postpone the Indian team’s tour to the African nation, according to a TOI report. The cricketing activities have once again be affected after the detection of the new Covid-19 variant. “We might request CSA to postpone the series by a week and and will then declare the schedule,” top BCCI sources said on Thursday The Indian team is scheduled to travel to South Africa for three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is between December and January. Though, there is no official announcement of the postponement of the tour. The Indian team is presently playing the Test series against New Zealand at home. The first game of the two-match series in Kanpur ended in a draw while the second is slated to begin on Friday. India Test and ODI skipper Virat Kohli will be back in action after he was rested from the T20Is and the first Test against the Kiwis.

IND vs NZ | Wriddhiman Saha recovers from stiff neck as India mull 'combination based' selections

India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha has fully recovered from the stiff neck issue that limited his role in the first Test of the series against New Zeland to only batting and a brief period of wicketkeeping on the second day. India are spoilt for choices in all the departments of the game and the team management led by the skipper Virat Kohli, who is returning from a break, and Rahul Dravid has their task cut in selecting the playing XI for the final Test. The second Test is scheduled to be played in Mumbai where intermittent rains have persisted over the last few days and it should play a spoilsport during the game as well. If weather conditions stay the same, the hosts might contemplate playing three pacers and two spinners in the final game of the series. Kohli, however, refused to assume that weather will stay gloomy and rainy through the entire course of the Test and hence he said that the playing XI is yet to be discussed. “Saha is fit as of now and he has completely recovered from a stiff neck issue. The combination of the playing XI we have to discuss, keeping in mind the weather conditions in Mumbai. We can’t assume that weather will be like this on all five days of the Test match,” Kohli said in the pre-match press conference. He was also asked about the composition of the middle order with him returning to bat at the number four position. He refused to divulge details of the team and instead emphasized the “team first” principle and “collective trust” in the side and said that whoever will be dropped, will be a decision based purely on conditions and combinations which will be communicated clearly with the players concerned. “All the members of the team understand where the team is placed. We always communicate well and if someone needs to be dropped it is combination based. This is not a difficult task when there is collective trust in the team as we prioritise the team first. The discussion always happens in our team in a rounded manner.” Kohli will be under pressure on selecting the playing XI as dropping either Ajinkya Rahane, Chetehswar Pujara or Shreyas Iyer will have some sort of bearing on his leadership style and team’s fortunes in both the near and far future.