New Zealand vs India 2020: 5 most important elements of the Test series

Pitches

The pitch at Basin Reserve is known to be very flat

New Zealand was known as a country where swing bowlers get some help. However, in recent times, despite the success of Boult, pitches there have become increasingly flat. One can go back to India’s last Test series in the country.

The first Test saw India chasing down a target around 400 while the second saw New Zealand saving the game with a huge total in their second innings which featured a triple hundred by Brendon McCullum.

That match was played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the venue for the first match of this series. In the 2014 series, a lot of grass was left on the pitch to help New Zealand seamers. However, the plan backfired as India put the Kiwis in and bowled them out for a low score.

But then the pitch kept becoming flatter and eventually the game petered out to a very high-scoring draw. It’s hard to see what the curators can do to change what seems to be the basic nature of the wicket.

New Zealand would definitely want seamer-friendly pitches as they would consider it their best chance for defeating India. England managed to win their home series against Kohli’s team 4-1 in similar conditions. But there is no certainty that the pitches would be moulded as per the wishes of Williamson and company.