All posts tagged: Wankhede Test

‘We are just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world…..’ – Daryl Mitchell’s ‘Batting Hill’ reprise | Cricket News

‘We are just a bunch of Kiwis taking on the world…..’ – Daryl Mitchell’s ‘Batting Hill’ reprise | Cricket News

They came. They played simple cricket. And they conquered. But nothing in New Zealand’s assured bearing smacked of arrogance over the greatness of the feat – a 3-0 absolute smashing of India who were showed up, playing at home. None typified the classic Black Caps team person mentality better than Daryl Mitchell who picked the Player of the Match Trophy after top-scoring with 82 in the first innings off 129 balls with 3 boundaries and 3 sixes, right when Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar were threatening to pull one back after New Zealand took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. New Zealand conceded a 28-run lead and Shubman Gill got a 90 for India. But Mitchell’s multi utility lay in other areas. He ended the match pouching 4 catches – more than both keepers put together, with an absolute ace shift at first slip, ensuring Ajaz Patel and Glenn Philips could absolutely let his spin rip. Mitchell helped send back Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and the dangerous R Ashwin, and was instrumental in Kohli being …

India vs New Zealand: Food from personal chefs, hairdryers for Mumbai climate dominate player requirements | Cricket News

India vs New Zealand: Food from personal chefs, hairdryers for Mumbai climate dominate player requirements | Cricket News

Hair dryer please! The Indian team had to make an SoS to Mumbai Cricket Association asking them to provide two hair dryers for the team as the clothes of players kept getting wet. The Mumbai weather has thrown different challenges for the India and New Zealand team at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday. With 33 degree temperature and 52 % percent humidity, the players had to use a dryer to get their clothes dry and wear it again. Few players are superstitious and prefer not to change their clothes while playing the entire day. As a result the players asked the Indian team support staff to provide a dryer so that they can wear dry clothes. Some players took help from players who are benched. Washington Sundar wore Axar Patel’s jersey while bowling. The Indian board provides four pairs of playing jerseys to each player but such has been the weather that it is taking no time for players to get drained. Special chef food We all know how Indian players have begun to be …

India head coach Gautam Gambhir says T20 cricket has had an adverse impact on ability of batsmen to defend | Cricket News

India head coach Gautam Gambhir says T20 cricket has had an adverse impact on ability of batsmen to defend | Cricket News

As he left the press conference room, past journalists wishing him Diwali and shaking his hands, Gautam Gambhir stroked his chin and said in a tone of lament: “Baal safed ho gaya yaar.” He then turned around and added:“ Aur safed ho jayega, bhai.” It’s been just two months since he took over as head coach of the world’s most popular cricket team but results haven’t gone the team’s way. Gambhir packs the same intensity as the fiery opening batsman of yore into the press conference room. He barely smiles though he did once, when asked about the angry young man image of the past. Nor does he lighten the mood with a wisecracks like his predecessor Rahul Dravid. Gambhir the coach is the extension of Gambhir the batsman, though he says both preoccupations are a world apart. “When you are playing, it’s a completely different thing to when you are coaching. You can only control certain things,” he said “It’s important to give people freedom. And sometimes when things aren’t going your way, it’s …

India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test: Question of when, and not if, Wankhede pitch will turn | Cricket News

India vs New Zealand, 3rd Test: Question of when, and not if, Wankhede pitch will turn | Cricket News

Wearing a sheepish smile, Ajaz Patel broke into an apology: “Sorry, I have a really bad memory. I don’t remember that pitch really.” The pitch where he claimed all ten wickets three years ago, the 22-yarder that has defined his life. The one thing that he remembers is that “it looked drier.” But he fires the caveat: “We’re still two days out from the game. So it is going to change over the next couple of days. You know that that red soil is going to offer you a bit more pace and a bit more bounce and it will definitely turn, it’s just a matter of when.” On the last point hinges the destiny of most of the matches in the subcontinent — when it would start turning. From the first ball of the game or third day or the fourth. How much it would turn, whether it turns square, whether variable bounce would kick in, whether it becomes a lottery wicket where spinners, even part-timers, just turn in and reap a rich produce. …

India vs New Zealand: When was the last time India lost at the Wankhede Stadium? | Cricket News

India vs New Zealand: When was the last time India lost at the Wankhede Stadium? | Cricket News

Having suffered the ignominy of a first series defeat at home since 2012, India are now hoping to avoid the prospect of a first-of-its kind loss. Only once have India ever been whitewashed in a home series — South Africa clean-swept them 2-0 in 2000 — and they have never failed to win at least one Test against a team that has toured for at least three matches. 2-0 down to New Zealand ahead of the final Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, India are hoping to avoid the humiliation, perhaps why, as The Indian Express reported late on Tuesday, they are planning a rank turner for the pitch in Mumbai. India do not, however, have the greatest of records in recent years at the Wankhede. They have won only five of the last 10 Tests that have taken place at the grand old Mumbai stadium, of which three have been losses to England (twice), Australia and South Africa. The last time India lost at the Wankhede was also the last time they lost …