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High-flying New Zealand are on the verge of history as they aim for their first-ever Test series whitewash in India, in the third and final Test, starting in Mumbai on Friday.
The Kiwis defied all odds to win the first two Tests in Bengaluru and Pune, to claim a historic first Test series triumph in India.
Another victory at the Wankhede stadium would make New Zealand only the second team to inflict a series whitewash on India in their own backyard.
Only once has India been ever whitewashed in a Test series at home -- a 2-0 series defeat against South Africa in 2000.
The toss mishap in Bengaluru proved to be decisive and set the tone. India were not only bowled out for 46 -- their lowest total in a home Test -- a blow that also ended up shattering the confidence of their batters.
There was no looking back for New Zealand from that point onwards as they outplayed India with both bat and ball in both Tests, to hand India their first home series loss in 12 years.
India's batting has been a complete disaster in both Tests, collapsing against pace in Bengaluru, and against spin in Pune, where left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner 13 wickets in the match.
Surprisingly, India have demanded another 'turning' pitch in Mumbai as they seek to avoid the humiliation of a series sweep. They clearly believe that despite losing in Pune, spin could be their best chance to get back to winning ways against New Zealand.
India might look for a change or two in their team in order to shift the momentum but there aren't too many options on hand. The two senior batters -- Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli -- have been the biggest letdowns so far with 62 and 88 runs respectively in the two Tests but they are untouchable at the moment, especially considering the all-important tour of Australia coming up at the end of the month.
While Rohit has paid the price for his ultra-aggressive tactics, Kohli's woes against spin have been quite glaring -- falling to the spinners in three out of his four innings.
The way he missed a full toss from Mitchell Santner in the first innings in Pune left everyone shocked and it will be up to the Indian batting star to make a strong comeback in Mumbai.
Rohit and Kohli are champion performers with the bat and can certainly be expected to bounce back strongly in Mumbai, where they both boast of a good record.
Interestingly, Rohit has played one Test at his home ground at the Wankhede -- hitting an unbeaten century (111 not out) against the West Indies in 2013. On the other hand, Kohli has played five Tests at this venue, scoring 469 runs at an average of 58, with a double century and three fifties.
India also needs the likes of Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan to up their game and produce big scores more consistently. Rishabh Pant also failed with the bat in Pune while he was all at sea with the gloves against the spinners as the ball went past his gloves a number of times.
India have always done well at home whenever their batters have piled up big scores, something which went amiss in the first two Tests.
Also, the team management will need to gauge the pitch better and take some astute calls, depending on the conditions and not on the opposition.
Young spinner Washington Sundar was the lone bright spot for India in the second Test with 11 wickets in the match, comfortably outshining the senior spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who managed eight wickets combined in a total of 86.4 overs bowled by the duo in the two innings.
Ashwin struggled badly in the first two games, managing just six wickets in 67 overs at an average, while Jadeja has also looked quite flat, bagging the same number of wickets in 65.2 overs.
India could ponder making a change by bringing in Axar Patel, a like-to-like replacement for Jadeja.
Axar is quite lethal on wickets offering assistance to the spinners as his record proves -- 55 wickets in 14 Tests, all played at home, with five five-wicket hauls at an average of 19. He is also quite handy with the bat lower down the order as he has proved in white ball cricket.
It remains to be seen if India persist with their three spinners and two pacers combination. They could also be thinking of playing a fourth spinner in Axar on the red soil the Wankhede pitch expected to give the spinners a lot more assistance.
Their pacers haven't done much in the series either, with Jasprit Bumrah going wicketless in the 14 overs bowled in the Pune Test, while Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj haven't made any significant impact.
Ideally, India would have preferred to rest Bumrah and not playing him in three straight Tests in such a short span of time, but the situation they find themselves in at the moment demands that their premier pace bowler work some trick with the ball.
A confident New Zealand will take some stopping in the third Test. Rachin Ravindra has looked quite assured against both spin and pace, with 247 runs at an average of 82, including a century and a fifty in the four innings in his first Test series in India.
Devon Conway and Will Young also looked quite solid against the Indian spinners on the turning pitch in Pune, where Captain Tom Latham made a timely return to form with a half-century.
Their pace department has been excellent with young William O'Rourke making quite an impression in his first tour of India, claiming seven wickets at an average of 17, while Matt Henry bagged eight wickets in the first Test before he missed the next.
Among the spinners, apart from Santner, Glenn Phillips showed he is more handy than a part-time spinner with four wickets from two games. Ajaz Patel, who hasn't had much to do in the first two games, will be looking to make his presence felt at the Wankhede -- the same venue where he picked up a historical 10 wicket haul in an innings in 2021.
New Zealand will also take inspiration from India's not-so-impressive record at the Wankhede. Out of 26 Tests played here, India have won 12, while losing seven games and seven ended in draws.
The last Test played at this venue was between India and New Zealand, where the hosts won by a huge margin of 372 runs courtesy of Mayank Agarwal, who hit 150 and 60 in the two innings, while Ashwin claimed eight wickets in the Test.
India have won the last three Tests at Wankhede, but their last defeat at this venue in 2012 against England by 10 wickets was also time they had lost a series at home.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah.
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