India vs New Zealand: ‘He may not be most gifted, but I have faith in him’: Gautam Gambhir on young India batsman

IND vs NZ: The first Test between India and New Zealand will be played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and the pitch is expected to be favourable to the bowlers.

Updated on: Feb 20, 2020, 12:38:12 IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By HT Correspondent

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Ahead of the first Test match, former India cricketer VVS Laxman spoke about the importance of the new openers and said that a lot of India’s success would depend on how the batting order adapted and adjusted against the new ball bowlers. Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw should walk out to open the innings for India and they will be under the scanner against Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Mayank, who struggled to get going in New Zealand, found some form in the second innings of the warm-up clash, will be key to India’s chances and former India batsman Gautam Gambhir has also backed the right-hander to get the job done.

“I have a lot of faith in Mayank Agarwal. He may not be the most gifted going around but he is certainly the most organised. He will not treat bowlers with disdain like Virender Sehwag or a David Warner did but has the clarity of mind of an opening batsman,” Gambhir wrote in his column for Times of India.

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“Getting into the Test series, I don’t expect overnight changes in the way the outside world reacts to reversals but I am glad that Virat Kohli’s team looks pretty much protected from these assessments,” he further added.

Gambhir also wrote that the focus will be on young players like Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw and how they react to opportunities in tough conditions in New Zealand.

“We will have a new pair opening the batting for India. It will interesting to see how Prithvi Shaw or Shubhman Gill react to opportunities as and when they get,” Gambhir wrote.

The first Test between India and New Zealand will be played at the Basin Reserve in Wellington and the pitch is expected to be favourable to the bowlers which will make the task cut out for the opening batsmen, especially against the new ball.