Former cricketer Simon Doull feels India has an advantage against New Zealand given their spinners’ performance in home conditions. The first test between the two teams kicked off on Thursday at Green Park in Kanpur, with India winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Speaking on Star Sports, Simon Doull stated that India will not miss their five regular test players must in the test match. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah for the test series, while Virat Kohli is being rested for only the first test.
“These sides rather match up nicely. India has an advantage with the spin bowling department in these home conditions. I know the key five guys are missing when you look at Bumrah, Shami, Pant, Rohit, and Kohli but I think only three of them are sorely missed. And that is Rohit, Virat and Bumrah,” said Simon Doull.
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In spin-friendly situations, you need your best wicket-keeper and that is Wriddhiman Saha: Simon Doull
Simon Doull further opined that India will also not miss Rishabh Pant in the series. He elaborated that Wriddhiman Saha is India’s best keeper in spin-friendly conditions. Doull said,
“Yes, Pant can take the game away from you but in these types of situations, you need your best wicketkeeper and that is Saha. So I don’t think they lose anything having him ahead of Rishabh Pant.”
The former New Zealand pacer also pointed out Umesh Yadav’s brilliant record in home conditions. Umesh is four wickets short of achieving the 100-wickets mark in home conditions with the red-ball.
“If Bumrah and Shami were here, I’m not sure they would have played because Umesh Yadav’s record is so good that he is guaranteed to play. I think they will miss only three of the five players massively but the other two they can do without, particularly for this Test match,” stated Simon Doull.
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