India have reportedly asked the Mumbai Cricket Association to prepare a "rank turner" for their third Test against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium. India have already lost 2-0, making it the first time since 2012 that they have lost a Test series at home. Their record 18-series winning streak in Tests at home has thus ended but they would now be hoping to avoid an even more humiliating series white wash, something they have never experienced since February 2000.

According to the Indian Express, the Indian team management has told the MCA to prepare a pitch that will "help spinners from Day 1". This is despite the fact that India had lost the second Test in Pune on a turning track. Their batters had no answers to Mitchell Santner and the rest of the Kiwi spinners. India lost 19 of their 20 wickets to spinners in Pune and 13 of those were taken by Santner alone. This follows a recent trend of Indian batters not being able to negotiate good spin bowling on difficult tracks.

The difference between the previous recent instances of India's batting failures and the one in Pune was that their premier spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were outbowled by the ones playing for the opposition. Both Indian spinners have enjoyed success at the Wankhede Stadium. In five games, Ravichandran Ashwin has picked up 38 wickets at 18.42, the highest tally by any bowler on this ground. In his only game, Ravindra Jadeja managed six wickets too.

It will not get any easier for the batters though. The presence of red soil will sufficient bounce in addition to the spin. The pitch in Pune, on the other hand, was a slow turner.

India looking to avoid a 24-year first

The last time India lost all of their matches in a Test series at home was in February 2000 when South Africa blanked them 2-0. Against New Zealand, India lost the first two Tests despite both being played in almost entirely different conditions.

New Zealand didn't send in a single spinner during India's first innings in the first Test in Bengaluru. Matt Henry took five wickets, Will O'Rourke took four and Tim Southee picked the singular wicket of Rohit Sharma as India were skittled out for a record-low score of 46. Rachin Ravindra's masterful 134 off 157 which came mostly in an eighth wicket stand of 137 runs in just 132 balls with Southee helped New Zealand score 402 in their second innings. India then staged an extraordinary fightback in the second innings. Sarfaraz Khan scored 150 in 195 balls while Rishabh Pant made 99 in 105 but they went from being 408/3 to being all out for 462, which gave New Zealand a target of 107 runs to chase. They did so with ease and New Zealand thus won their first Test in India since 1988.

They then backed that up by winning the second Test on a turning surface. Santner, who was not even selected in the first Test and never took a fifer in his first class career, recorded figures of 7/53 in India's first innings as the hosts were dismissed for just 156 runs in reply to New Zealand's 259. Captain Tom Latham's 86 at the top of the order helped New Zealand give India a target of 359 to chase and the hosts were all out for 245 runs, giving the visitors a 113-run win and their first ever Test series win in the country.

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