A lot will be at stake for Team India when they take on top-ranked New Zealand in the first Test at Kanpur’s Green Park on Thursday. Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane will look to marshal his relatively inexperienced troops in the absence of regulars Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. 

Although New Zealand have just two Test wins in India—in 1969 at Nagpur and 1988 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium (which is also the venue for the second Test), Rahane will look to avoid India’s fourth consecutive defeat to the Kiwis. However, he made it clear that revenge will not be on his side’s mind as they look to dominate the Kiwis in spin-friendly conditions.