India’s top order has struggled in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur. The load of the scoring came onto the middle order with Shreyas Iyer again delivering along with help from R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha.
After scoring 345 in the first innings and even bundling out the Kiwis for 296, the Men in Blue-headed into their second innings with a 49-run lead. While fans believed it to be an easy road from here with a good lead at hand, some poor batting display proved to be their undoing.
Shubman Gill was the first to fall at the fag end of Day 3. The fourth day started with Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara resuming India’s innings at 14/1.Â
While the senior batter hit a couple of boundaries, he was shortly bundled out for 22 and Agarwal also fell cheaply for 17. The next in line was Iyer and he continued to stick on the crease, however, did not get proper support until Ashwin stepped in.
Ravindra Jadeja, who could create damage to the BlackCaps bowlers, unlike Day 1, saw him getting trapped for an LBW on a duck.
As expected, fans on Twitter made sure to express their opinion about the top order and even called for the axing of several senior Indian pros like Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.
Rahane and Pujara after spending 10 minutes at the crease#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/ms0nO0v0GF
— Not Daniel Alexander (@_UnrealDaniel) November 28, 2021
Rahul Dravid sir to Rahane Pujara Gill after got out early at Kanpur Test Cricket #NZvIND #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/aiLnMOZrtO
— Ashutosh Srivastava (@ashutosh_sri8) November 28, 2021
It’s time selectors find suitable replacement for Rahane and Pujara.. #INDvNZ
— Shrikant (@sdjoshi55) November 28, 2021
why Saha, Pujara, Rahane still in the team? #INDvsNZ
Fans rn pic.twitter.com/OZZXnI49FO
— DEBARATI (@DebAnu2002) November 28, 2021
BCCI to Rahane,Saha and Pujara after this series pic.twitter.com/CqEJszZqzV
— Sairaj S (@_i_am_s_s) November 28, 2021
In the ongoing Test match, Day 4 saw Iyer slam another half-century and has got good support from Saha who has scored 20+ runs. Ashwin too contributed and scored 32 runs.
The two sides will next face each other in the second and final Test in Mumbai and will also see the return of skipper Virat Kohli.
