NEWS
Follow UsWhat New Zealand achieved in India was nothing short of impossible. The Black Caps became the first team to whitewash India in a Test series (minimum of three Tests) and it was largely because of how quickly they managed to adapt to different conditions.
The pitch and conditions in Bengaluru helped New Zealand’s seamers and Matt Henry and Co. dismantle India for just 46 in the first innings. They won the Test by eight wickets. When the action shifted to Pune and Mumbai for the last two Tests, the surfaces started turning from day one and the likes of Mitchell Santner, Ajaz Patel and Glenn Phillips made Indian batters dance to their tunes.
“It's been three different surfaces and three different games, and I guess we're well aware that one of the challenges of going to Asia is that the conditions are going to change all the time and you have to be adaptable and even within the game the conditions change very quickly. I mean even in this Mumbai Test I was bowling...I think in the first innings and I felt like I was bowling really well but the wicket wasn't really turning and then I came back after Lunch and all of a sudden everything started happening,” said left-arm spinner Patel, who claimed 11 wickets in the final Test in Mumbai.
"So I guess when you come to the subcontinent, it's about having that skill set and that range of being able to, whether it be bowl in the high 90s or bowl in the low 80s and being able to be adaptable in those ranges, I guess from the outset. It's also reading the surface quickly because the conditions, as I say, do change at a constant (rate). Sometimes, the conditions in the morning can be very different from the conditions in that middle session, and so as a spinner, it's about knowing how to get the most out of that, how to change your pace, how to go up and down while still having the ball shape.
"If I'm honest with you, we had a great winter back home where we prepared on turning wickets and we made sure we had different surfaces that we tried and practiced on so we were, I guess, conditioned to bowling on different surfaces as well. So yeah it's a lot to do with preparation but then it's also about backing your skills and kind of I guess you know going out there and doing it really.”
New Zealand came into this series after getting whitewashed in Sri Lanka. Patel feels his team played some good cricket in Sri Lanka and also spoke about the importance of winning the toss in these conditions. "I guess, from Sri Lanka to here, I don't think we were too much different, to be honest with you. I think we played some really good cricket in Sri Lanka, but unfortunately (we lost the series). When you come to the subcontinent, the toss is so important and bowling in the last innings in comparison to bowling in the third innings, especially on a turning wicket, can sometimes be the difference as spinners.
"While the results didn't go our way in Sri Lanka, I don't feel like we played too poorly or anything like that. Even from a batting department, we still put runs on the board. It was just a matter of, I guess, you know, having a bit of luck our way as well in the series."
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