KOLKATA: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson missed training on Thursday after being hit by a bug, raising concerns over his fitness for the second Test against India.

Team-mate Tom Latham said the Black Caps were hoping the talismanic batsman would be fully recovered for the first day on Friday as the tourists fight to save the series.

“Kane is a little bit crook [sick] today so he won’t be training. Hopefully he’ll be fine to go tomorrow,” Latham told reporters at Eden Gardens. “There is no discomfort, he is just down with a bug. Nothing too major, he is just resting up and getting right for tomorrow.”

New Zealand need a win at Eden Gardens to square the three-match series at 1-1 after they lost the first Test in Kanpur by 197 runs.

Williamson’s 124-run second-wicket partnership with Latham in the first innings was a bright spot for the visitors, who had their moments in the game.

Luke Ronchi and Mitchell Santner also hit fighting half-centuries in the second innings and Latham said a little more consistency could reap dividends.

“Nothing really changes too much [from Kanpur]. You have to do all the cliche things you need to do at the start of an innings,” he said. “We weren’t too far away in the first test. As Hess [head coach Mike Hesson] has alluded to, we just need to do things for a little bit longer.

“If we can do that with bat and ball it will a good chance in this match.”

Meanwhile, Indian skipper Virat Kohli shrugged off pressure for the hosts o regain the top spot in the world rankings, saying he’s not interested in numbers.

After securing a comprehensive victory in Kanpur, India could regain the number one position if they win the second Test and clinch the three-match series.

But Kohli said he was not motivated by records, despite India being just one point behind arch-rivals Pakistan in the International Cricket Council Test rankings.

“Number one doesn’t matter for us because it is temporary,” the skipper told reporters. “If you get attached to these things then you get upset you are not able to do it. It’s better to observe from far on things that are not directly in our control.”

Teams (from):

INDIA: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

NEW ZEALAND: Kane Williamson (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Jeetan Patel, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, B.J. Watling, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Jimmy Neesham, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner.

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough (England) and Rod Tucker (Australia).

TV umpire: C.K. Nandan (India).

Match referee: David Boon (Australia).

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2016