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Kanpur: India's play their 500th Test in Kanpur as Virat Kohli's team begin their quest to regain the top spot in the world rankings against a dangerous New Zealand.
Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev will be among the icons celebrating India's 500th Test in Kanpur starts from Thursday as Virat Kohli's team begin their quest to regain the top spot in the world rankings against a dangerous New Zealand.
The match marks both the start of a three-Test series against the Black Caps and a packed programme of international cricket for India, who will also host England, Bangladesh and Australia later this season.
India are strong favourites after their recent 2-0 victory over the West Indies in a four-match away series, which saw Kohli lead from the front by scoring his first Test double century in Antigua.
Inspired by Kohli, India's top order has been in fine form of late – with the newcomer Lokesh Rahul scoring three centuries in the last eight Tests.
India can't afford to be complacent after their stunning defeat by New Zealand at the start of the World Twenty20 in March. Their last Test series with New Zealand ended in a 1-0 away defeat in 2014, a contest which saw the then Black Caps' skipper Brendon McCullum score a triple century.
Although McCullum has since retired, his successor Kane Williamson is now established as one of the game's finest batsmen and he has already found form in India, hitting a belligerent half-century in a warm-up last week.
Williamson, who has so far skippered New Zealand in just four Tests, said he was excited by taking on such a tough assignment in the early days of his captaincy.
Fast bowler Trent Boult can expect a heavy workload after the visitors lost Tim Southee to an ankle injury just before the start of the series. New Zealand, who have never won a series in India, were whitewashed by the hosts in the two-match Test series in 2012.
Teams from:
India: Virat Kohli (c), Lokesh Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), R Ashwin, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Amit Mishra and Umesh Yadav.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), BJ Watling (wk), Luke Ronchi (wk), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Ross Taylor and Neil Wagner.
Stats & Trivia
Off spinner Ashwin 7-wickets away in 200-wickets in Test match.
Head to head
Total: 54
India wins: 18
New Zealand wins: 10
Draws: 26
In India:
Total matches: 31
India wins: 13
New Zealand wins: 2
Draws: 16
Match facts
September 22-26, 2016
Start time 0930 local (0400 GMT)
