Team India captain Virat Kohli became the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. As far as Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra second with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers. Virat Kohli is currently leading the Indian side in New Zealand. After India blanked the hosts in the 5-match T20I series, New Zealand hit back by claiming the 3-match ODI series 3-0. The action now shifts to Test cricket and the India team, which is ranked number 1 in this format, will look to kickstart their overseas campaign in the World Test Championship in a positive way.
“We need 100 points to be in contention to play at Lord’s,” head caoch Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying by The Times of India. “Two overseas wins out of six Tests will keep us in good stead. We play six Tests overseas this year [two in New Zealand, followed by four in Australia later in the year], so that’s one objective.
“The other is to play like the world’s No. 1 Test team, because that’s what this team believes in more than anything else. On the Test front, that’s what we’re looking at.”
India’s ruthlessness in Tests is primarily because of the consistency in selection and in players understanding their roles and stepping up to perform. However, the side is grappling with injuries and this complicates things for them ahead of the first Test.
This challenge is not lost on Shastri, but as per him, this presents the other players in the squad with a great opportunity to make their presence felt. Rohit Sharma has been ruled out of the series and this gives a chance to Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw to give an account of their pedigree.
