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Kane Williamson a fitness doubt for New Zealand v India

Tom Latham expects skipper Kane Williamson to be fit for New Zealand's second Test in India despite struggling with illness.

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Captain Kane Williamson is a fitness concern for New Zealand ahead of the second Test against India after coming down with a bug.

The influential batsman missed training on Thursday, leaving him little time to recover ahead of the start of day one in Kolkata on Friday.

However, team-mate Tom Latham is expecting Williamson - who has posted a score of 50+ in six of his past nine Test innings - to recover in time.

Speaking to reporters, Latham said: "Kane is a little bit crook [ill]. Hopefully he'll be fine to go.

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"There is no discomfort, he is just down with a bug. Nothing too major, he is just resting up and getting right."

New Zealand were beaten by 197 runs in the first Test, with India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin finishing with 10 wickets in the match.

India are unbeaten in their last 12 home Tests, but Latham is backing the Black Caps to level the three-Test series.

"We weren't too far away in the first test. As Hess [coach Mike Hesson] has alluded to, we just need to do things for a little bit longer," he added.

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

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India skipper Virat Kohli, meanwhile, has urged the home team to apply more scoreboard pressure having fallen shy of 400 in both innings in the first Test.

"As a home side, we feel we are able to put big runs on the board, that obviously puts pressure on the opposition regardless of the wicket we are playing on," Kohli said.

"I felt that even in the last game we had a chance of getting 400-plus, but we didn't capitalise. So those are the things we want to correct.

"Once you have a big score on the board, the opposition feels they have to work that extra bit or bat a session-and-a-half more than they would like to. That gives you an advantage in the game."

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