India Playing XI vs NZ: Virat Kohli is back, who goes out? Indian captain’s press con LIVE at 1- Follow LIVE Updates

India Playing XI 2nd Test – IND vs NZ LIVE: Who will make way for Virat Kohli in Mumbai Test? With the return of skipper Virat Kohli for the upcoming second Test in Mumbai, one question everyone is asking is who will Rahul Dravid drop? India captain himself will be addressing conference today at 1 & can reveal India’s Playing XI for Mumbai Test: Follow India vs New Zealand LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN

Who Goes out from Indian XI as Kohli comes back? Ajinkya Rahana and Cheteshwar Pujara are on top of the list along with Mayank Agarwal. Shreyas Iyer, who grabbed the opportunity on Test debut, is the favourite to stay in the playing XI but Ishant Sharma’s place is also under scrutiny.

That Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have had an abysmal last 12 months, the two places are under the scanner. But Rahane is the vice-captain of the Test team while Rahul Dravid has immense trust in Cheteshwar Pujara’s ability.

Another big question for the team would be the fitness of wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.

@11:15 AM: Update from Mumbai. New Zealand have cancelled their practice due to wet ground. India, however, are training indoor at the BKC complex.

Yesterday’s rain and more overnight showers have left the Wankhede Stadium too wet for training today. The team will go to the ground this afternoon for a look around and to set up. #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/gW1Lfjbrja

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) December 2, 2021

India Playing XI MumbaI Test – IND vs NZ LIVE Virat Kohli is back, who goes out? Indian captain’s press con LIVE at 1: Follow LIVE Updates

If both Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are to stay, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli will have to make a tough choice in terms of opening. Mayank Agarwal after 13 and 17 in two innings in the first match, is all set to go out to make way for Virat Kohli.

A

• Virat Kohli coming in will mean dropping one player and Mayank Agarwal looks all set to go out.
• Shreyas Iyer after a historic debut will be retained in Playing XI and will bat at No 4.
• But Mayank going out creates a problem — who will open?
• Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha are two openers in the squad while Cheteshwar Pujara had also opened in 6 innings with an excellent average of 116.00. Saha has never opened for India but has played in the position for Bengal and in IPL.
• Pujara last opened the innings back in 2015 against Australia and scored a century.
• If India are to retain both Pujara and Rahane, the former will have to open with Gill while Virat Kohli will have to promote himself to No 3.

India Playing XI vs NZ 2nd Test: Selection headache for Rahul Dravid – who will make way for Virat Kohli in playing XI?

Cheteshwar Pujara’s record:

India Playing XI vs NZ 2nd Test: Selection headache for Rahul Dravid – who will make way for Virat Kohli in playing XI?

1. Shubman Gill
2. Cheteshwar Pujara
3. Virat Kohli
4. Shreyas Iyer
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Ravindra Jadeja
7. Wriddhiman Saha (WK)
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Axar Patel
10. Umesh Yadav
11. Mohammed Siraj

India Playing XI vs NZ 2nd Test: Players under scanner

Ajinkya Rahane

Stand-in-captain for the opening Test, Ajinkya Rahane is on top of the list when it comes to being first choice replacements. The 34-year-old is under fire from all verticals owing to his poor show for the last couple of years. He has struck only one century and a couple of fifties in the last 16 Tests. Over the years, his average has witnessed a staggering decline from 51.37 to 39.60.

Ajinkya Rahane in last two years:

2020- 272 runs from 4 Tests @38.86

2021- 407 runs from 12 Tests @20.35

vs NZ in 1^st Test- 35 and 4 runs respectively

Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori says India cricketer Ajinkya Rahane should be dropped for the second Test in Mumbai from December 3 so that he gets time to overcome his lean patch, which has continued for too long.

Cheteshwar Pujara

Ajinkya Rahane’s first Test deputy Cheteshwar Pujara is also under fire for his dismal performance. He managed scores of 26 and 22 in the Kanpur Test. India’s batting mainstay is yet to score a century since January 2019. If Rahane has been a failure, Pujara has failed to justify his place in the India Test side. However, he slammed 8 fifties in 12 games to keep himself ahead of Rahane in terms of stats attack.

Cheteshwar Pujara in the last two years:

2020- 163 runs in 4 Tests @20.38

2021- 626 runs in 12 Tests @31.30

Mayank Agarwal

With big names Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal is logically the ideal fit for Virat Kohli’s replacement. He managed scores of just 13 and 17 runs in the first Test at Kanpur. He was nicked twice outside the off stump. However, he was only playing his second Test of 2021 after his failure in Australia in January. He sat for 10 straight matches during these matches.

2020- 133 runs in 4 Tests @16.63

2021- 64 runs in 2 Tests @21.33

Career- 1069 runs in 15 Tests @44.54

@Home- 614 runs in 8 Inns @87.71, 3 centuries

Away from home- 455 runs in 17 Inns @26.76, 4 fifties

Ishant Sharma:

For India’s most experienced player in the squad, Ishant Sharma has drawn a blank in the last two Test matches. After returning with the figures of 0/92 in the 4th Test against England at Leeds, he drew blank again. In Kanpur Test, he returned with the figures of 0/35 and 0/20 in two innings combined. He has lacked the potency and that could see him go out with Mohammed Siraj coming in.

For more sports news and India vs New Zealand LIVE updates, follow us at insidesport.in