Gill, Jaiswal seek to maintain form; Kohli, Rohit target consistency against NZ

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill the torchbearers of Indias transition phase will have to be the teams driving force in its quest to lord over an unsettled New Zealand when the two sides square off in a threematch IND vs NZ Test series beginning on WednesdayThe baton has not been completely passed but Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are certainly running their last lap and these two young superstars will have to show that they can carry forward the legacy of the titansSince a productive series against England earlier this year Gill is now more familiar and comfortable with the rigours of Test cricketHis last 10 innings contain three hundreds and two fifties while Jaiswals last eight outings in Test cricket feature a 214 and five fiftiesThose numbers are not to be scoffed at But at the same time it is important for them to build on the foundation through this series a precursor to the much tougher journey to Australia next monthGill seems to have sorted his issues with the incoming deliveries from pacers but a trace of the old failing still remainsIn Chennai Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahamud troubled him with nipbackers before eventually grabbing his wicketAlso ReadRohit Sharma and Co to stick to proven strategies against New ZealandSimilarly Jaiswal has a penchant to go for expansive shots against pace bowlers to get dismissed evidenced by his three dismissals recently against Bangladesh quicksIn all the lefthander has fallen to pacers 12 times in 20 innings and he would want a better record before facing a clutch of topclass Australian pacersWhile these concerns are not deeply rooted they serve as cautionary points against a New Zealand attack that has capable hands in pacers Matt Henry William ORourke and the experienced Tim Southee if he gets to play here after a sharp decline in his formThere is another angle to the emergence of Jaiswal and Gill as the pillars of the Indian lineup as Kohli and Rohit have not precisely set the field ablazeRohit who has played 15 innings this year has made two hundreds but managed only one fifty in the remaining 13 totaling 497 runs in eight Tests at just over 35Kohli 53 runs shy of 9000 Test runs has not made even a fifty in six innings this year and while Rohit often perishes in his attempt to grab the momentum his colleague offers a much more curious caseThe 35yearold Kohli has not been able to convert the two starts he got this year ending up with 46 vs SA and 47 vs Bangladesh stirring the uncomfortable memories of that great slump between 2019 and 2023The master batter will also have to keep an eye on New Zealand leftarm spinners iquest Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra iquest the tribe which has been a thorn in his flesh in the pastIt has been a while since these two stalwarts embossed their mark across a full series and a nervy New Zealand could be their golden chance to do soIndia has only minor concerns but New Zealands troubles across batting and bowling departments are more pronouncedTheir batsmen struggled copiously against Sri Lankan spinners recently while losing an away series 02 and here they will have to negate two modernday greats in Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra JadejaThey took 20 wickets together against Bangladesh and with the Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch expected to give some assistance to spinners the veterans might be itching to have a bowl hereBesides the duo the Kiwis will have to contend with the genius of Jasprit Bumrah who rattled Bangladesh by picking up 11 wickets across two TestsIf they persist with the combination from the last series Akash Deep will be the third pacer behind Bumrah and Mohammed SirajThe weather is expected to be gloomy over the course of the Test match and there could be some delayed starts and truncated sessionsThe management will take into account the fact that New Zealand who have already lost Kane Williamson to an injury were put through the wringer by Lankan spinners recentlyIn another blow rightarm pacer Ben Sears has been ruled out of the series due to a knee injury An uncapped Jacob Duffy who has played six ODIs and 14 T20Is has been brought into the squadWith agency inputs