KANPUR: The first Test between India and New Zealand will be played on 22 September 2016, at Green Park Stadium Kanpur. The test match has special significance because it will be the 500 Test played by the nation since it started playing the English Game in 1932 when it was a part of the British empire. It has become a formidable team among cricket-playing nations.
India is batting first after Kohli wins the toss.
Though the Indian Team has been on a winning streak of late, it cannot wash off its weakness against spin in recent times.
It was last year when the team had to face a humiliating defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka when spinner Rangana Herath ripped through the Indian batting line up and chasing a low total of 176, crumbled for 112 runs.
The Indians will be hoping to make a winning start against the Kiwis at Kanpur.
The home side has been a tough team in spin-friendly pitches of the sub-continent, and the situation will not change unless the New Zealand batsmen can master the technique to play under spinning conditions.
Historically, the Green Park has been friendly to spin, and the Indian Captain is likely to have his spin triad of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Amit Mishra.
The live streaming online can be watched at Starsports.com here.
Known for his attacking streak, Kohli will surely like to dominate the visiting side who had very little practice except for a warm-up game against Mumbai on a flat Firoz Shah Kotla track in Delhi.The Kiwis have never won a Test on Indian soil since 1998.
The Kiwi team is led by a young captain Kane Williamson, and the most experienced are Ross Taylor who has played 5 test matches.
The hosts, on the other hand, are a formidable team and have an impeccable record of 9 wins in the last ten Tests played at home. The only draw was the fixture against South Africa in Bangalore last year and that too because of the vagaries of weather.