Bumrah to Latham, no run, 120.5 clicks, a gentle length ball that shapes away outside off. Latham shoulders arms

Latham and Conway are at the crease. Latham is on strike. Bumrah will open the attack

Out walk the openers on this bright, sunny Pune morning.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke

Rohit: Would've batted as well. When you play a Test match like that, the first session didn't go our way. But we batted well in the second innings. We take a lot of positives from that and see how we can turn things around here.

Latham: We're going to have a bat. Surface slightly different to what it was last week. Not a lot of grass. Might produce a bit of spin as we expect when we come to these parts of the world.

New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to bat

All set for the toss..

Pitch report | Simon Doull and Dinesh Karthik: The colour of the pitch remains the same - black soil in both Bangalore and Pune. On a good length area, it's a lot more dry and a lot more devoid of grass. The team winning the toss should bat first, and there will be enough assistance for spinners from ball one.

"Akash Deep is marking his run-up," says our correspondent Ganesh Chandrasekaran from Pune.

Rohit and Gambhir had a big smile earlier as they walked out to inspect the pitch.

As for New Zealand, they are still without Kane Williamson as he continues to recover from a groin strain. The big question for them is whether to stick with three seamers or go in with an extra spinner. They have the option of bringing in Mitchell Santner or Ish Sodhi from the bench in place of one of the seamers.

On to some team news now. Shubman Gill is expected to return for India, and one of KL Rahul or Sarfaraz Khan will have to make way. Speaking to the media yesterday, Gambhir came to the defence of Rahul but didn't confirm who would be left out in place of Gill. He also hinted that workload management for the pacers will be done depending on the result of this Test. So Jasprit Bumrah is likely to play. But there are question marks on who the second seamer will be, or should be. Mohammed Siraj averages over 36 at home in 13 Tests, which is a reasonable sample size in these conditions. Those returns represent a huge drop in quality in the absence of Mohammed Shami, and there is a case to be made for Akash Deep who has been impressive in the limited opportunities given to him. Apart from that, the spin trio is likely to be unchanged, although India did add Washington Sundar to the squad after the defeat in Bengaluru.

8.20am local: Hello and welcome to our coverage of what has quickly turned into a hotly anticipated second Test after the events of the last few days. India weren't expected to be in this position against a team that lost 0-2 in Sri Lanka before arriving here. This series was supposed to be straightforward for the hosts who were on a 6-match winning spree which included that mind-boggling win in Kanpur. However, by their own admission, they misread the conditions at the Chinnaswamy and New Zealand - with three gun seamers - were brilliant in the way they capitalised. But this is a different match, and more importantly a completely different pitch. In all likelihood, there's not going to be much scope for misreading conditions today on what coach Gautam Gambhir feels is a "typical Indian wicket." How typical and to what extreme - we'll find out once there is some play. Don't expect anywhere near the kind of help for the pacers which there was in Bengaluru though.

Preview by Ganesh Chandrasekaran

Conditions were a much-talked-about aspect in the first Test of the series in Bengaluru. Following Rohit Sharma's misreading of the pitch and the overheads, New Zealand made better use of what suited them. In Pune, that could still be a point of contention as New Zealand gets in with a shot at history. They could be met with a lot drier conditions in Pune, and the challenge now would be to try and beat India in different ways.

If there isn't much assistance for the pacers, can they still find ways of breaking through and putting India under pressure? Can their spinners step up after having a lacklustre outing in not-so-favourable conditions in Bengaluru? With the three Tests coming with little turnaround time, New Zealand may have an edge as they look to carry that confidence forward. They'd managed that win despite the lack of runs from senior batters such as Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell, and would be hoping that the duo strengthen their fold by chipping in.

India were floating in a similar boat till after that dreaded first-innings in Bengaluru, but with fifties for both Rohit and Virat Kohli, some of those nerves ought to have eased. They've shown a keenness to embrace an aggressive batting approach, and some part of that approach contributed to their 46 all out. While they still want to stick to that philosophy largely, there is also a pushback towards doing it at the right times.

"There's a balance that needs to be struck and it's something we work on all the time with the players and it's something that they're aware of as well," said Ryan ten Doeschate, the assistant coach. The approach from teams across the world is also influenced by the World Test Championship believed Doeschate. "I think the nature of the WTC where draws are worth nothing essentially, four points compared to 12. So always in the back of the mind, you're trying to push the game forward and it takes a bit of bravery to do that and some teams are doing it very successfully. We want to make sure that our guys are equipped to do that when needed as well."

If India were to lose the Pune Test, they'd need to win four of their six remaining Tests until the WTC final, to make sure they get there without relying on other results. With five of them in Australia, they'd be happier if they tried and get as many in the bank at home

When: Thursday, October 24 at 09:30 AM IST

Where: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune

What to expect? There has been intermittent rain in the lead-up to the Test at Pune but also hot afternoons. The pitch looked dry and there had been some work going on to remove the grass on it two days ahead of the Test. Expect the spinners to come into play more than in the first game.

Teams

India: There would be selection headaches for the Indian team after Sarfaraz Khan's 150 in the first Test. Additionally, the injury concerns over Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant have ended and both are set to feature in the playing eleven. This could leave KL Rahul's position in jeopardy. On the bowling front, the addition of Washington Sundar and the thought of using him against left-handers could mean Kuldeep Yadav might miss out if he comes in. Similarly, with Mohammed Siraj's middling returns, there is a possibility of resting him and being replaced by Akash Deep.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj/Akash Deep

New Zealand: Like India, New Zealand too could suffer a few selection headaches. They were spared of one of them with Kane Williamson being ruled out, allowing Will Young to stay put. But with drier conditions at play in Pune, they could be toying with the thought of an extra spinner even though all three of their pacers played crucial parts in that win in Bengaluru. Who sits out if they are to add a spinner to the eleven will be the big question on their minds.

Probable XI: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel

Did you know?

-Yashasvi Jaiswal is four sixes away from equalling the most sixes in a calendar year in Tests while Rohit Sharma is two sixes away from equalling the all-time India record for most sixes in Test cricket

- Kohli's career best of 254* came at this very venue, against South Africa in 2019.

- Of the three WTC cycles, this is the only one in which every team has won an away Test and every team has lost a home Test.

What they said

We know that what he [Washington Sundar] brings on the table is just. If he plays tomorrow, obviously he brings a completely different dimension. He brings control for us. And obviously, he can bat in the lower middle order as well. So, it is all about taking the ball away if we want to - Gautam Gambhir, India head coach, on Washington Sundar

Squads:

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant(w), KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel

New Zealand Squad: Tom Latham(c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell(w), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William ORourke, Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Mark Chapman, Jacob Duffy