Rachin Ravindra and Will Young walk off the pitch at Bengaluru after guiding the Black Caps to victory in the first test. Photo: Arjun Singh / Sportzpics for BCCI
After an historic first test win the Black Caps are expecting no favours from the Pune pitch, for what shapes as a possible series deciding match.
The Black Caps broke a 36-year drought by beating India by eight wickets in the first test in Bengaluru to go one nil up in the best of three series.
Rachin Ravindra was the guiding light scoring a first innings century and then finishing unbeaten on 39 as New Zealand chased down their target of 107 for the loss of just two wickets.
India's first innings humiliation, being dismissed 46 was their lowest ever total at home, and came after skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat.
Sharma conceded he misread the pitch and in opting to pick three spinners and only two fast bowlers despite the first day being washed out by rain and the pitch being under covers for the best part of two days.
"You see and you try and make the judgement. Sometimes you make the right call, sometimes you don't, and I was on the other side of it this time around," he said.
"We want to challenge ourselves. This time around, it didn't come off, the challenges that were thrown at us. We didn't respond well, and we found ourselves in a situation where we got bowled out for 46 runs. As a captain, it definitely hurts to see that number, but in 365 days you'll make two or three bad calls. That's okay."
Black Caps pace bowlers Will O'Rourke and Matt Henry took 15 wickets in the first test but Pune wicket will undoubtedly be a different story and suit the home side's spin attack.
"It will certainly be different to the Bengaluru one ... it's very dry, very spin friendly which is something we thought they would do after that (first) test," Ravindra said.
"But we have just got to adapt to what is in front of us. There are a lot of unknowns with this wicket."
Rachin Ravindra celebrates his century in the first test. Photo: Photosport
Ravindra said while India may look to lessen the impact of the likes of Henry, O'Rourke and Tim Southee it had to be remembered that could also impact India as they have the likes of pace bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to call on.
"If its an extreme wicket (spin wise) I think it brings us into the game more ... you win the toss and and all of a sudden taken a couple of wickets you are right into the game on a wicket that is pretty spicy and turns a lot.
"We can't control what sort of wicket they are going to roll out but we can control our attitude and the way we approach it," he said.
"One of our core values is staying consistent and not riding the highs and the lows of this game. We know how much of a roller coaster it can be if we do so it's important for us to stay level ... and hopefully we can put together two more complete performances."
If the Black Caps can pull off another win it will give them an unassailable 2-nil series lead going into the third test in Mumbai.
- RNZ
