Heavy dew, which will minimise the toss advantage, has been predicted for India’s opening T20I against New Zealand as Jaipur gears up to host its first international match in eight years on Wednesday.
Officials and groundstaff at the Rajasthan Cricket Association said that in the last two days, dew has been setting in around 7pm, the start time of the first-ever T20I to be played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
The dew factor proved to be massive at the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the UAE where teams preferred to chase. “Here in Jaipur, there could be dew in the first innings itself going by the last two days which minimises the toss advantage to a certain extent. Since it is a T20, one has to expect lots of runs from this surface,” said an official. “We will use the anti-dew spray on match day but we have all seen its effect is very limited.”
In the last ODI held here in 2013, India chased down Australia’s 359 in just 43.3 overs losing only one wicket with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli scoring a century each.
Rahane at nets
Ajinkya Rahane is gearing up for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand by bracing at nets in short spans against a variety of bowlers. He knows that this series could well decide his future in the Indian team.
Besides carrying the additional burden of leading the team in the opening Test in Kohli’s absence, Rahane will also need to score runs to ensure questions are not raised about his place in the coming weeks. In the last 15 Tests,
Rahane has scored just 644 runs at an average of 24.76. Since that magnificent match-winning hundred at the
MCG last December, Rahane has been struggling to live up to expectations.
The focus was firmly on Rahane as India’s Test specialists looked to get into the groove on the first day of a short camp at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra Kurla Complex facility on Monday.
It was well past noon when Rahane entered the nets for his first hit of the day. He was seen tackling the Mumbai bowlers and off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who has made a comeback to the Test team. While the right-handed Rahane mostly worked on his defence, he also stepped out on occasions for the big hits.
Rahane, and his deputy for the first Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, batted in turns in the two nets arranged at the MCA facility. Selector Abey Kuruvilla was seen overseeing the camp, which will end on Thursday.
Young batters Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal faced the bowlers in turns. Senior speedster Ishant Sharma and pacer Prasidh Krishna also bowled as the Test specialists started their training on a positive note.
The first Test will be played at Kanpur from November 25, while the second will be held at the Wankhede from December 3.
