October 27, 2024

We Came Out Strong from the Start, and It’s Showing in Both Games

Tom Latham has joined an elite group, standing alongside Adam Gilchrist and Alastair Cook, as one of the few captains to lead a team to a Test series victory in India in the 21st century. Achieving such a feat against one of the most formidable sides on home soil places this series win among the most memorable in cricket history. India’s dominance at home has made them nearly unbeatable, and to overcome them on their turf is a monumental accomplishment for any captain.

Naturally, Latham was brimming with pride at the conclusion of the third day in Pune, where New Zealand sealed their place in the record books. His leadership and New Zealand’s resilience against the hosts will be celebrated as a historic triumph, etching Latham’s name in cricketing lore.

“I’m still at a loss for words a little bit. It’s obviously an immensely proud moment for this group,” said a beaming Latham. “Coming off the back of a Sri Lankan series where we didn’t get the results that we wanted to come here and play the style of cricket that we’ve played… We’re obviously immensely proud to be in the position of winning two Test matches here. A lot of New Zealand teams have come here over the past 69 years, I think it is, and 13 series. To be the first team to win a series over here is immensely special and very proud of this group,” said Latham.

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Leading from the Front: Latham and Santner Shine as New Zealand Executes Game Plan to Pressure India

Latham emphasized the importance of New Zealand sticking to their game plan, even after facing a setback in Sri Lanka. Determined to make a strong start, he acknowledged his eagerness to lead from the front and set the tone for the series. “We’ve come here and we’ve wanted to compete and we’ve wanted to fire a shot first up and I certainly think we’ve done that in both games, obviously with the ball in the first game but also with the bat here, being able to put first innings runs on the board has been really important and obviously the bowlers went to work over the last couple of days which has been very pleasing to see,”he quipped.

Mitchell Santner delivered an outstanding performance, finishing with match figures of 13 for 157. He was a consistent force over the two days of New Zealand’s bowling, earning well-deserved praise from his captain for his efforts.

“He did a fantastic job,” praised the captain. “Of course, the wickets he took were crucial, but what might go unnoticed is the sheer number of back-to-back overs he bowled. Will [O’Rourke] only bowled one over with the new ball from that end, while Mitch took on the rest.”

“Someone like that to come and bowl that amount of overs to keep being a threat for that amount of time… I kept trying to take him off but he kept taking a wicket, so I said you can keep going,” said the happy captain and added, “But I can’t praise him enough in terms of what he’s done this game.”

New Zealand ended up outplaying India with the bat as well, paritcularly so in the first innings. “From our batting point of view that’s all we wanted to do was try to put them under pressure I think we saw a slightly different way that we played yesterday just being a little bit more attacking. We tried to counteract any punch that they threw at us whether it was around the wicket or over the wicket or different field changes.”

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Prepared for Pressure: New Zealand’s Strategy and Preparation Pays Off in Subcontinental Conditions

“So obviously it’s pleasing that we’re in that position where they might have found it a little bit hard. We’ve certainly been on that side of things before when we’ve come to these parts of the world where anything you do doesn’t work and you do feel under pressure so it’s obviously a nice position to be in when you put a score or you get a lead of what we did,” he said and credited the preparation done for the series.

“Nothing prepares you like playing hard Test cricket and I think that was a really important thing for us – being in Sri Lanka beforehand just understanding conditions a little bit more. Even though they’re different they are similar in terms of playing a lot of spin trying to find ways to be successful in these conditions. So I think that certainly helped.

“We try to leave no stone unturned in terms of what we’re going to get. We’ve been to these parts of the world before and guys understand how they want to approach things and the approach may have looked slightly different in terms of trying to be a little bit more attacking and put India under a little bit of pressure. So I think that was very pleasing.”

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