NEW DELHI: The New Zealand cricket team faces a formidable challenge on their upcoming Test tour of India.
Former Black Caps opener Martin Guptill believes that the most difficult part for the Kiwi batters will be handling the turning ball, especially the occasional delivery that skids through.
India and New Zealand, finalists of the inaugural World Test Championship (2019-21 cycle), are set to compete in three Tests in Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai starting on October 16.
“You feel like you can never score sometimes, that’s the hardest thing about coming here to India. The ball’s turning square, then the same sort of ball comes through and it skids on straight.
“You never know which one’s going to turn and which one’s going to go straight, so you have to always be thinking, you have to always be mentally on song and on (the top of) your game,” Guptill told PTI in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of Legends League Cricket.
Guptill emphasized the need to leverage any advantage against India, who have an impressive streak of winning their last 17 series at home.
“To try and get on top of India is extremely difficult. But when you feel like you are, you have to try and take that as long as possible in the game,” he said.
“It’s a tough place to play. It’s hot, sweaty and you feel like everything’s against you. But as I said, if you can get try and get on top of them and you feel like you are getting on top of them, you’ve got to try and go as deep as possible in the game,” added the former opener.
On the subject of India’s threats, Guptill finds it challenging to decide between Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah as the Kiwis’ biggest threat.
“Both of them. I mean, you can’t take away (the fact) that (Ravindra) Jadeja scored 86, 89 or something, wasn’t it?
“(They had a) 199 run partnership, you think you’ve got India against the ropes and then you’ve got these two come out and bat.”
Jadeja and Ashwin had a crucial 199-run stand in the opening Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, rescuing India from a precarious position of 144 for six on the first day, effectively taking the game away from Bangladesh.
“While Jadeja is probably the better batter, I mean, Ashwin goes about his work in a completely different way and is very effective in the way he scores his runs,” he said.
“So you never feel like you’re on top of India because they’ve got such depth, and then, obviously, you’ve got them as a partnership of the ball as well,” he said.
Guptill praised young Kiwi pacer Will O Rourke for his extra pace, which troubled Sri Lankan batsmen, taking eight wickets in the Galle Test. He believes the extra pace was something missing from their current seam attack.
“I first faced him maybe three years ago and I was really, really impressed in how he bowled. For him to have developed further in the last couple of years and get his chance in Test cricket, man, he’s had a really good start,” he said.
“He’s got a little bit of extra pace behind him, which some of our bowlers don’t have and he’s got a bit of height, which gives him that little bit of extra bounce, which on our wickets at home helps a lot more than maybe what it does here in the subcontinent,” Guptill added.
Acknowledging the inevitable changes in New Zealand’s Test side, Guptill said it remains to be seen if the younger generation can fill the void left by experienced players like Kane Williamson.
“Only time will tell. I can’t comment on that at the moment. I mean, you don’t know until these new guys come through and start playing whether they’re up to it or not,” he said.
“Once Kane and the likes have finished playing and when these new guys come in, it’s going to take time for them I guess,” he said.