IND vs NZ: Fans react as India struggles on Chinnaswamy pitch; 3 wickets down early

After winning the toss, no one expected India to opt to bat first against New Zealand on Day 2 of the first Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The decision to bat first does not seem to have gone in India's favour, as they lost three early wickets after scoring just 13 runs in 12.4 overs before rain interrupted play.

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New Zealand would have wanted to continue in these conditions, as all three seamers enjoyed troubling the batters. Yashasvi Jaiswal survived on this tricky pitch, with Rishabh Pant joining him. India lost skipper Rohit Sharma early for 2 runs off 16 balls, as Tim Southee bowled him.

Virat Kohli, who was asked to bat at No. 3 in the absence of Shubman Gill, could not stay long at the crease. He received a delivery that jumped on him a bit, and Kohli looked to defend off his toes. However, it caught the top glove before flying towards Phillips at leg gully, who took an excellent catch. William O'Rourke dismissed Kohli for a duck after the batter faced 9 balls.

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Sarfaraz Khan, who made it to the team, also could not do much. When trying to counterattack, he slapped the ball while on the up and got into a poor position. The ball hit the bottom edge and lobbed to the right of Devon Conway at extra cover, who sprang to his right and made a stunning catch.

While Indian fans in Bengaluru were silent, fans online—especially on X (formerly known as Twitter)—were shocked by how the pitch was behaving. Some are even comparing it to pitches in Australia or that of Lord's of England.

As for Shubman Gill, he was unavailable for selection for the first Test due to neck stiffness. India made two changes, bringing in Sarfaraz Khan for batting and adding Kuldeep Yadav as another spinner to their XI.

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

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