Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane believes that Kanpur pitch will have turn in it and will help Indian spinners. He believes this match will set the tone for the long home season for the Virat’s team consisting of 13 test matches.
“It is exciting times for us with the 13 Tests scheduled at home. The West Indies tour went well for us. Some players also featured in the Duleep Trophy before the New Zealand series. We feel we are in pretty good space at the moment,” Rahane was quoted by PTI before India’s first match of the three-Test series against New Zealand, beginning on Saturday.
“It will be important to play series by series. We know our conditions here. Having said that, it is important that we respect the opponents in all the 13 Tests.”
After New Zealand series, India will take on England, Australia and Bangladesh. The pitch at Green Park, Kanpur is the talk of the town now and is expected to be turner. However, Rahane said his side are focussed on their job irrespective of the conditions.
“The weather is not in our hands but we have generally seen slow and low wickets here like it was in the ODI against South Africa last year. Every day (of the game) the pitch behaves differently so we will have to analyse it how it would play out each day. Anyway as a team we don’t focus on the pitch, we are more focussed on putting up a strong performance.
“Hopefully the wicket will turn. We all know in India that wickets are helpful for the spinners. That is our strength here and it is important for us to play to our strengths. As of now, we are not quite sure how the wicket will behave,” said the Indian vice-captain.
NZ’s warm up match at the Firoz Shah Kotla, New Delhi did not have a turning track. Ajinkya, however does not wish to undermine Kiwi tweakers who proved costly against Mumbai in the warm-up match where Mumbai scored 400 runs of their bowling unit in a single day.
“In a practice match, you are bound to try a few different things. The mindset is different of a warm-up and a Test match is different. They have very good bowlers and all three (spinners) are playing together. We respect them. We don’t take any team lightly. Our focus will be on not allowing them to settle into a rhythm,” insisted Rahane.
He also said that the hosts are aware of the threat that the Kiwi left arm pacers Trent Boult and Neil Wagner can pose in this series.
“After seeing their videos, we will be able get a better idea (on how to prepare against angling deliveries). As a batting unit, we have to think of batting over by over and session by session. In Test cricket, every session is important. Not only the fast bowlers but it is important to give respect to all their bowlers. New Zealand are a good team and also have an experienced batting line-up,” Rahane stated.
He said he is lucky to be a part of the team for 500th Test. “If we win, it will be the biggest celebration. It will be a historic moment. All of us feel lucky to be part of it,” he added.