India and New Zealand head to Mumbai on Friday to conclude what has been a very surprising Test series with the tourists having already claimed the spoils and now looking for a victory which would give them an incredible whitewash success.
India don’t have any time to lick their wounds though because they are heading to Australia for the marquee series of the English winter in a few weeks. A win here would see them carry some form of confidence with them into that one.
India
The tone for this series was kind of set when India were bundled out for just 46 in the first innings of it and although their second dig was a lot more convincing in Bangalore, much of that was playing without pressure given that the game had already gone. Their batting efforts in Pune would have disappointed them because in that match their bowlers had kept them in the game but they were unable to take advantage of it. They will want so much more from their batters here.
Given that the series has gone, there might be more emphasis on their batting in this match because if they are going to come out on top in Australia later in the year then they are going to need to put up sufficient runs. Injuries and illness haven’t helped but this isn’t a full strength New Zealand attack and at the Wankhede where the wicket usually plays well for the batters, if India can’t score big here it will be a huge concern for them moving forward.
New Zealand
If you had said that New Zealand would play the opening two Test matches in this series without Kane Williamson and not lose either of them they would have taken that. They might have been surprised too but to actually win both without their talismanic batter bodes so well for them for the cricket that they have left in this year and moving into 2025, which includes a home Test series with England in just a few weeks which they will want to be competitive in.
New Zealand have been fortunate to have won a couple of very big tosses, not least the first one where they basically had the match won within a couple of hours of the game starting. Winning the two tosses is one thing but going well enough to make sure they won both matches is quite another, especially when you wouldn’t say they are blessed with the strongest spin artillery known to man. They now get the chance to play with some freedom and see if they can make a bit of history for themselves.
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Team News
India are expected to make one change for this match with Jasprit Bumrah likely to be managed with this game not being a competitive outing. He could be replaced by either Kuldeep Yadav or Mohammad Siraj although with three spinners in their ranks already it would make sense to have the other seamer.
New Zealand are expected to recall Matt Henry after the seamer missed the second Test match with a glute injury. Tim Southee could be the player to make way for him in what is expected to be an otherwise unchanged side.
Betting
I’m not a massive one for betting on dead rubbers so I’m not going to steam too much into this one, especially with the toss being a huge deciding factor on both of the matches to date. As we are not going to know the outcome of that until half an hour before the first ball I’m reluctant to go too deep in this match. There is one player bet that I like and that comes in the form of the top India bowler where if Bumrah doesn’t feature there could be value to be had.
There could be anyway if another turning track is produced and if that is the case then given that Washington Sundar came into the attack before Ravindra Jadeja in both innings in the previous match he could be the value at 4/1. He took the most wickets in both innings in that game in Pune and assuming that this wicket crumbles in the Mumbai heat then he is going to be right in the game here, especially if India bowled second. He took out the lower order in the first innings in Pune and the top order in the second innings so everyone is vulnerable to his off spin and at 4/1 he feels like a fair bet to come out on top in the first innings here.
Tips
Back W.Sundar Top India 1st Innings Bowler for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with Unibet
