Batsman Ajinkya Rahane is expecting the Kanpur wicket to assist the Indian spinners and believes the team’s performance in the first Test will set the tone for the long home season.
“It is exciting times for us with the 13 Tests scheduled at home. The West Indies tour went well for us. Some players also featured in the Duleep Trophy before the New Zealand series. We feel we are in pretty good space at the moment,” Rahane said. The first match of the three-Test series against New Zealand begins on Friday.
“It will be important to play series by series. We know our conditions here. Having said that, it is important that we respect the opponents in all the 13 Tests.”
The pitch has been the talking point again before the start of a home series. New Zealand were not offered a turning track in their warm-up match in Delhi but the wicket at Green Park is expected to be a turner. India’s outdoor practice session on Sunday was washed out due to heavy rain.
“The weather is not in our control but we have generally seen slow and low wickets here, like it was in the ODI against South Africa last year. Every day [of the game] the pitch behaves differently. Anyway as a team we don’t focus on the pitch; we are focussed on putting up a good performance. Hopefully the wicket will turn. We all know in India that wickets are helpful for the spinners. That is our strength here and it is important to play to our strengths,” he said.
