Ind vs Nz Test Series: Test cricket is no longer the same game, nor has India kept pace with the times – just think of that Kanpur Test against Bangladesh a short while back. Still, while run rates continue to soar and batters are more keen to look for more opportunities to score boundaries, according to India head coach Gautam Gambhir, adaptability remains the most important of them all.
“We want to be that team which can score 400 in a day and bat for two days to salvage a draw,” Gambhir said ahead of India’s first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. “And you call that growth, you call that adaptability, you call that Test cricket. If you play only one way, then there is no growth.”.
“I can’t talk about world cricket. Every team has its ideologies, their methods to play Test cricket. I can only talk about my team. If we are ever in such a situation where we have to bat for two days to draw a Test, we have players in the dressing room who can bat for two days. Ultimately, our first motive is to win a match and then if there is a situation where the team has to play for a draw, we have to keep those options open as well. That is the kind of Test cricket that we want to play.”
With the “high-risk, high-reward” approach Gambhir was more than on board with. India gets bundled for 100 in the process, so long as the batters play their natural games and take the game head-on, even in Test cricket.
“Yeah, we want people to be aggressive, we want people to go out there and play their natural game. If they can play the natural game, if they can get 400-500 runs in a day, why not? We will play it that way – high-risk, high-reward; high-risk, high-failure,” Gambhir said. “There will be days when we’ll get bundled up for 100 but we’ll continue to back our players”.
” That’s how we want to play and that’s how we want to entertain the people of this country and, even in Test cricket, we want to keep the game going forward and get the results in whatever situation we are in.”.
India will look to carry the momentum into the three-match series against New Zealand. They have been on a six-game winning spree at home since February this year and are well-placed at the top of the World Test Championship (WTC) chart.
Meanwhile, New Zealand haven’t had the best of starts to their subcontinent trip. Their (non-WTC) Test against Afghanistan in Greater Noida was washed out before they were mowed down 2-0 in Sri Lanka. Add to that, New Zealand doesn’t have the greatest of records against spin in recent times and is currently placed sixth on the WTC table.
“I think New Zealand is a different challenge,” said Gambhir. “We know that they are a good team. They have some of the highest-quality players. They have players who can hurt us. They’ve got players who can do the job for them too. They keep fighting and we expect them to fight as well. So we respect them, but we don’t fear anyone.”.
We have said it so many times that we will always respect every opposition. But, at the same time, we are selfish and want to try as hard as possible on the cricket field. After that is done, we want to be as humble as possible.
India is well placed for a third successive WTC final appearance with 74.24% points, while a win in the series will not necessarily send them to the final but will make things easier for them, especially considering that they next have Australia in the five-match series down under.
“See, the first thing is that the World Test Championship is in June 2025. And the second thing is that the Test match in Australia is on November 22. Right now, only New Zealand is on our mind and nothing else,” Gambhir said. “When you play international cricket, you do not think about how to prepare for the five Test matches in the Australia series or how to prepare for the World Test Championship final. Right now, the most important thing is how to be ready on November 16 at 9.30 am. That is more important because you do not see ahead that far.”.
“Whatever match you play for your country, you try to win it irrespective of who is the opposition and where that series will take place. Whether it is New Zealand or Australia, we will try to win our country in every match.”
