Seamers

At the Wankhede, where the seamers have found some help, especially with the new ball, New Zealand will be a tricky opponent.

Babar Azam has gone back to his seamers it might not be a bad idea with wicket turning and gripping to get in a few overs of spin and see how this duo reacts.

England’s seamers rotated with shellshocked regularity but put together a long collection of wides, no-balls, full tosses and long-hops as Klaasen and Jansen cut loose – the latter smoking six sixes.

It might not be a bad ploy by the skipper on the surface which has assisted the seamers more than the spinners.

They’re seamers, and they’re going to bowl more stump-to-stump,” Julian was quoted as saying by Fox Cricket.

Both teams relied on their seamers to keep the batters in check.

Seamers Rabada, Mulder and left-arm spinner took three wickets apiece for South Africa.

England are understandably reluctant to go into another Test which could last five days with any whiff of a question mark on one of their seamers.

Former Indian opener Akash Chopra is in line with the belief of the former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding, who holds that for seamers, there can be no substitute for saliva.

Padikkal, too, had shuffled around his crease to upset the lines and lengths of the seamers in the powerplay.

But they haven’t been English conditions at all: neither the green seamers of yesteryear, nor the buffet-bar flat tracks of recent ODis in England.

England may have compensated for Stokes' injury with their team selection; they opted for with five seamers and no frontline spinner, which allowed for cover for Stokes.

Hardik Pandya gets into the team as the all-rounder while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah would be the two seamers.

Keaton Jennings has been fleeting at the crease before a series in which his proficiency against the seamers will again be tested while Jos Buttler has only one recent innings against the red ball, scoring four.

Left-arm finger spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers with 2-54 but it was the Australian seamers who were to leave the most decisive mark on the contest.

On the other hand, South Africa who seemed on top after scalping two early wickets were seen toiling as the seamers failed to make an impact in the second session.

Seamers getting reverse swing and spinners getting the ball to turn would ensure that the Indian batting line-up won't be unstoppable even when the batsmen are well set.

Talking about the pink-ball Test, Laxman and Tendulkar predicted more help for the seamers in the evening session.

The first session has been dominated by Indian seamers so far.

We will try to win with one, two or three seamers, but we must stick to our plan.