Hamilton: During the afternoon session, head coach Ravi Shastri walked out of the dressing room and stood behind the wicketkeeper to watch Umesh Yadav bowl. The New Zealand XI team had already lost five wickets, India were on top, but Shastri continued to watch Umesh's second spell of the day like a hawk.

Umesh is the front-runner to accompany Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami in the first Test in Wellington from Friday and the coaching staff seemed keen on ensuring that he can match the exploits of his pace bowling partners.