IND vs NZ 2nd Test Live Score: R Ashwin strikes in his first over, New Zealand lose captain Tom Latham

The pacers didn't get any success but the spinner has struck straightaway and who else but R Ashwin! Ashwin got the ball to land in that good length area, which had the dark brown patch and the ball turned just enough for Tom Latham to miss and hit him in the line of the stumps.

New Zealand - 34/1 (10 overs)

Akash Deep had a couple of outstanding deliveries trouble Devon Conway and he too is playing with soft hands with one of them coming off the bat quite often as he tries to negotiate the opening spells of the Indian seamers. Can India strike early?

So far, it has been a good start for New Zealand though! 30/0 (7 overs)

The ball hasn't done much in the first few overs. A couple of them have moved a bit but not staggeringly to create any difficulty for the batters as both Devon Conway and Tom Latham have played the ball on the merit and India will be hoping for an early wicket.

New Zealand openers Tom Latham and Devon Conway are in the middle and will aim to give their side a good start on the first morning of a fresh wicket in Pune.

It will be a dry surface. The pitch is made of black soil, as was the Bengaluru pitch, however, it is local black soil reckons Dinesh Karthik on air. Karthik noted that the surface is firm and has a lot more grass around the ends, near the stumps. As Karthik and Doull came onto the pitch a bit deeper, the colour of the pitch changed with no grass around the good length and the patch is also darker. Hence, the pitch is set to turn from the first day itself and batting first is the only right call.

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 O'Rourke

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 have won the toss and opted to bat first in the second Test in Pune. Kiwi skipper Tom Latham suggested that the pitch was a bit drier with the colour different in the middle and on the ends and might take turn and hence, batting first when the conditions are the best was the correct option. Indian captain Rohit Sharma also wanted to bat first because of the dry nature of the surface.

India are expected to make a couple of changes to their line-up with Shubman Gill likely to come back and the change in pace combination as well with Mohammed Siraj not doing enough with the ball in home Tests.

After eons, the Indian team realised that playing Test cricket at home is not always the bed of roses. Even if they have lost to Australia or England in the past few years, they have come back well but this is a three-match series. New Zealand might be tempted to go hard as they have the lead but they'll just have to be wary of getting overexcited and India will be keen to stamp their authority as well. 

There's something about Test morning that feels beautiful, optimistic and refreshing and the whole of India will hope that the Pune clash against New Zealand is something on those lines after dropping the series opener in Bengaluru. India are under pressure and will be keen to land the first blow. New Zealand would just have to be careful. It has been one of the greatest weeks for New Zealand as a cricketing nation but they'd have to quickly get off the high horse into business. Welcome to our live coverage of the second Test against between India and New Zealand from Pune.