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Ahead of the third Test match against New Zealand in Mumbai, India head coach Gautam Gambhir said that his side's skill against spin hasn't gone down.
India will be looking to saving their pride as they take on Kiwis in the third Test at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. With the hosts being 0-2 down in the three-match series and having endured their first series loss in Tests at home in 12 years, they will be aiming to play out of their skins in order to avoid an embarassing whitewash. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Gambhir praised New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner for his outstanding performance in the Pune Test. The India head coach added that they will be working hard to make a comeback in the series. He added that the results matter when you're playing international cricket. "Sometimes you've got to give it to the opposition as well. I think Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game, but yes, we'll keep working hard. We'll keep getting better. That's about it. Guys are putting a lot of hard yards in the nets. Yes, ultimately it's the results that matter when you're playing international cricket, but I don't think so that our skill against spin has actually gone down," Gambhir was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying. After the end of the first two matches of the India-New Zealand Test series, Santner is the highest wicket-taker with 13 wickets at an average of 12.08. He bagged two fifers in the series. In the second Test, NZ opted to bat first and half-centuries from Devon Conway (76) and Rachin Ravindra (65) helped the Kiwis reach 259 after Washington Sundar (7/59) delivered an incredible comeback spell to destroy the Kiwi middle order. In their first innings, India posted just 156 runs, with spinner Mitchell Santner taking 7/53 and Ravindra Jadeja top-scoring with 38 runs. In their second innings, with the help of skipper Tom Latham's 86, NZ posted 255/10, with Washington picking four wickets and Ravindra Jadeja getting three. In the run chase of 359 runs, India was skittled out for 245, despite a fight put on by Yashasvi Jaiswal (77). India lost by 114 runs and NZ won the series 2-0. NZ had won the first Test by eight wickets. India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Dhruv Jurel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul. (ANI)
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