Sodhi spot shaky

New Zealand will make at least one change for the match starting at the famous Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday after off-spinner Mark Craig suffered a side-strain in the second innings of the 197-run defeat in Kanpur. 

His replacement in the 11 is expected to be 36-year-old Wellingtonian and English county cricket standout Jeetan Patel, who was handed a shock callup to the team after last playing for his country in 2013. 

Patel appears highly likely to play after coach Mike Hesson said he fitted the bill perfectly in terms of the need for a genuine off-spinner in India, not to mention the Black Caps going to the trouble of flying him out from England in the first place. 

Sodhi’s spot in the side does not look as secure. 

The Indian-born spinner’s mixed performance in the first Test, a Kolkata pitch expected to take less turn and a potential need to bolster a fragile Black Caps batting line-up could see him miss out.

New Zealand played three specialist tweakers in Kanpur but that may well drop to two (Patel and Mitchell Santner) with captain Kane Williamson able to offer relief for the frontline options on Eden Gardens wicket that should offer less spice for the spin merchants. 

Although he took three top-order wickets, Sodhi finished the third of the Kiwi trio in Kanpur after conceding 149 runs from 35 overs at a little more than four an over. 

All-rounder Jimmy Neesham and seamer Doug Bracewell are the front-runners to step in should Sodhi pay for his performance with his place in the side. 

The latter moved into the box seat in that race after Hesson indicated Neesham, who was hit in the ribs during a net session, was still struggling. 

The introduction of Bracewell would probably see the Black Caps top seven unchanged, the Central Districts man taking Craig’s spot at eight, with Neil Wagner, Trent Boult and Patel making up the tail. 

Despite making 22 and a duck first-up, opener Martin Guptill is expected to be given at least one more chance to prove his worth in tests, resisting a temptation to move first match batting standout Luke Ronchi up the order. 

Following the defeat in Kanpur, Williamson said Guptill “has certainly shown his class in the white ball format” and added they were “backing him to show that in the red ball.”

Whatever make-up New Zealand go with, the recipe from an improved showing in Kolkata appears simple, if not so straightforward to implement against an Indian outfit riding a wave of wins. 

Williamson summed it up best, reflecting on a first test effort where they were competitive for periods with both bat and ball before ultimately being outplayed. 

The first trial by spin has been failed but the Black Caps are far from ready to concede the sentence of a lost series will be handed down in Kolkata.