Live Cricket Score, India vs New Zealand, 1st Test, Day 1, Kanpur: India lose Pujara, Kohli in a hurry against New Zealand at Green Park

INDIA 183/3(55.3)

The sense of occasion is not lost on the locals. It hasn't been allowed to. Quite like the gaze of Dr TJ Eckleburg in 'The Great Gatsby', the smile is unyielding. It is ubiquitous, too, as at this nook and that corner of the Civil Lines area and beyond, Rajiv Shukla rises above electrical cables and the general chaos of Kanpur and beams beatifically. From his vantage points, the hoardings, and front page ads in the local newspapers, the Uttar Pradesh Cricket
Association boss welcomes one and all to be part of India's 500 Test match beginning at the Green Park stadium on Thursday. It's not lost on the players either. Inside the stadium, posters of India's former captains have been plastered on the walls.

Many of those ex skippers will part of the big celebration over the next five days. The media naturally has lapped it up eagerly and at the media conferences, words such as 'legacy', 'history' and 'landmark' have frequently cropped up. The hysteria boggles the mind. Such records will keep coming, you just have to show up. Playing is not an achievement, winning is. India's win percentage of a mere 25 suggests its has largely been a history of underachievement. Great teams that you tend to remember across sports are those who win frighteningly consistently. Who found dynasties. Lakers and Celtics; Madrid and United; All Blacks; West Indies of the 70s and 80s and Australia of the Don Bradman's Invincibles and circa the 90s and 2000s.