Ajinkya Rahane Feels New Zealand Start As Favourites At Wellington

The vice-captain of the Indian National Cricket Team Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday stated that the host country New Zealand will often be the favourites in the longer version of the game, as they know how to bowl and which shots to play. However, he believes India has got the goods to deliver under pressure against any kind of opposition.

Rahane warmed up for the Test series in New Zealand with an unbeaten 101* for the touring A team in the drawn four-day game against New Zealand A. He came to bat when Team required him to stand up and Rahane delivered without fail.

New Zealand are favourites in their home conditions: Ajinkya Rahane

Speaking to reporters ahead of the first Test at Wellington, Rahane stated that the home team will have a lot of advantages in the five-day game as they are aware of the conditions.

Besides, Rahane further explained the difficulties that the visiting team will face during the game.

“I think New Zealand are favourites in their home conditions. But I still feel the host country remains favourite because they know what to bowl and batsman are aware of what shots to play. As a unit we need to learn and adapt quickly as New Zealand grounds have different angles,” Rahane said on a cautious note on the eve of the Test match.

When you bat first, your mindset is always positive: Ajinkya Rahane

Further, Rahane Feels scoring 320-plus on the board will be crucial for India, as he believes the team always did well when they scored 300 above in the first innings of an overseas Test match. He feels batting first will give a positive mindset for the batsmen to push hard.

“When you bat first, your mindset is always positive, not saying that it’s not when you bowl first. If you get 320 to 330 outside India in first innings, it’s a very good total. All the matches if you see we won (in England and Australia), we got around 320 to 350 runs on the board in the first innings,” said Rahane.

Well, it would be interesting to see how things would turn out for the Indian team against New Zealand at Wellington. The form of Rahane will be one of the crucial aspects for the Indian team to emerge out on top facing tough New Zealanders.

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