Virat Kohli during the Indian team's practice session at the MCA stadium in Gahunje on Wednesday. (Photo by Punit Paranjpe/AFP via Getty Images) With big points at stake in the WTC cycle, teams prefer to die by the sword PUNE: Idealism and modern cricket don't go hand in hand. Those who have bought season tickets for the second Test between India and New Zealand, starting at the Gahunje stadium on Thursday, will be hoping that the match enters the fifth day.
But they may have to recalibrate expectations. The venue has a history of only two Tests. The first in 2017 against Australia was over on the third day, with India being all out 105 and 107 and left-arm spinner Steve O'Keefe taking a match haul of 12-70.
In the second, India beat South Africa on the fourth day in October 2019. đź”´ LIVE: Can India Bounce Back in Pune? | KL Rahul and R Pant to Enter IPL Mega Auction 2025 The Gahunje pitch is not expected to be as lively as the one in Bengaluru, but it will provide the spin spice. How severe the bite will be is the question.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir termed the strip as a "typical Indian pitch" where both batters and bowlers have to "do their jobs". He said that reading the pitch and reading too much in to it can be hazardous and no one could precisely predict the behaviour of any surface. Veteran cricket watchers don't want a premature finish to five-day Tests and hence doctored pitches and over-aggressive batters are looked at as culprits.
But even the first Test in.
