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CricBattle Daily Fantasy Cricket League Tips

India vs New Zealand on October 8

After the Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee directed banks to freeze accounts to prevent disbursement of funds to state associations, there were reports in India media that BCCI might call off the rest of the India versus New Zealand series. New Zealand have already played two Test matches and with one Test and five ODIs yet to be played on the tour. However, that's not stopped the bookmakers from making India favorites to wrap up this Test series 3-0 after a crushing display in the second Test of the series as well. Having won the first Test in Kanpur by 197 runs on a spin-friendly pitch, India got the better of New Zealand in Kolkata by 178 runs to go 2-0 up. As a result, they have also managed to dethrone Pakistan from the world number one spot in the Test rankings. What makes it worse for New Zealand is the pitch that was used for that second Test match was one of the quickest in the country and probably the most seamer-friendly surface one might get throughout this Indian cricket season. Capitulating in spin-friendly conditions is no excuse but to go down without a fight on a surface that has a lot on it for the fast bowlers made for a sorry viewing for the hosts.

Best economical pick – Wridhiman Saha scored an unbeaten fifty in the second innings again and became only the fourth Indian wicket-keeper to score two fifty-plus scores in a Test match. He also became the second Indian wicket-keeper and the seventh overall to achieve this milestone against New Zealand in a Test match. Saha is now also the oldest wicket-keeper to score two fifty-plus scores against New Zealand in a Test.

·         Top captains & vice captains – India were in trouble on day one of second test, losing three wickets for just 46 runs. This was the first time since 1999 that three or more wickets fell in the first session of a Test at the Eden Gardens. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane helped India get out from that difficult situation by adding 141 runs for the fourth wicket which now is India's highest fourth wicket partnership at the ground. The previous record was set by Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman when they scored 140 runs together against the West Indies in 2011.

·       Smart pick – For the Kiwis, the only positive from the second test was the batting of Tom Latham, who showed great determination against the in-form Indian bowlers in the fourth innings, scoring 74 runs.

·         Cautions Pick – After getting out early in the first test the kiwi opener Martin Guptill again failed in the last test. Guptil who has a very ordinary test career scored just 31 runs in the first test and 13 runs in the second test. He might fail to score again in the 3^rd test so be careful before trading him.

My XI – C Pujara (Captain), A Rahane (Vice-Captain), Tom Latham, W Saha, Matt Henry, R Ashwin, M Shami, Mitchell Santner, R Jadeja, Neil Wagner, Murali Vijay