New Zealand vs India 2020: 3 Indian players to watch out for in the Test series

The Indian team’s tour of New Zealand has been a riveting one. If in the T20 series the ‘Men in Blue’ blanked the Kiwis 5-0, in the ODI series, the Black Caps gained retribution by whitewashing their opponents 3-0. We now move to the longest format of the game.

India and New Zealand will battle it out in a two-match Test series starting on the 21st of February. The visitors have a bunch of match-winners who can change the course of the game, and will be hoping that these players fire on all cylinders in the series.

On that note, let us look at three Indian players to watch out for.

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#3 Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw

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The 20-year-old batting sensation had a great start to his Test career. Prithvi Shaw smashed a hundred and a fifty in his debut series against the West Indies, and bagged the ‘Man of the Series’ award. Indian captain Virat Kohli rates Shaw very highly; this is what he had to say about Shaw after his debut.

"He looks like someone who can get you off to the kind of start that you require, especially to make the first mark in any series that you play. It's great to have a guy who is so fearless, and he isn't reckless, he's very confident about his game.”

After his sensational debut, Shaw was unfortunately side-lined from the game due to a doping violation. But he has looked in good touch since his return.

In December 2019, the Mumbaikar blasted a 179-ball double hundred in the Ranji Trophy against Baroda. Even in the limited overs series against the Kiwis, Shaw got off to starts in all the three matches.

The youngster will be looking to leave his mark in the longer format now and stamp his authority on the game.

#2 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli has emerged as the emperor of modern-day cricket. The batting dynamite holds the record for being the fastest Indian to score 25 Test hundreds, and he is also the third fastest Indian batsman to the 7000 run mark.

In the last Test that the batting maestro played, he scored a masterly 138 at the iconic Eden Gardens.

Before that knock Kohli had recorded his career best score of 254* against South Africa, and he averaged a colossal 68 in the year 2019. The batting run machine had a poor ODI series as compared to his lofty standards though, aggregating just 75 runs in the three games that he played.

Kohli will be looking to sign off from New Zealand on a high. If the Kiwis do not scalp him early, they will be in for a very long leather hunt.

#1 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma

The Indian cricket team got some welcome news yesterday as Ishant Sharma was cleared for the Test series against the Kiwis. The veteran will spearhead the Indian bowling attack and Kohli will be looking towards the lanky pacer for providing crucial breakthroughs.

Ishant was in stunning form in India’s last Test series against Bangladesh. He used his height to generate extra bounce off the deck, and also made the ball move both ways to trouble the opposition.

Ishant took nine wickets in India’s first day-night Test at the Eden Gardens, making the Bangladeshi batsmen look clueless.

Ishant is also the most experienced member of the Indian team, having featured in 96 Test matches for his country in a career spanning more than a decade. His teammate and Indian batting mainstay Cheteshwar Pujara was effusive in his praise of Ishant.

“Ishant has worked on the swing… he has always got considerable movement bowling against left-handers, but now he is doing so against right-handers too. It is very different facing him now.”

With his height and vast experience, Ishant will be looking to rattle the Kiwi batsmen by getting the cherry to move either way and also by delivering some chin music.