“Yeah, certainly wasn’t expecting the weather that we’ve had over the last couple of days since arriving here,” Latham said on the eve of the game. “And looking at the forecast, it obviously does look sort of similar to what we’ve got today.
“So, obviously wicket being under covers for a longer duration, and it not necessarily being as hot as what we would usually expect here. So that potentially brings the fast bowlers into play.”
“It’s hard to say because I haven’t really had a look at the wicket in terms of a team that we play. But, yeah, we’ll obviously cover both bases [spin and pace] depending on when we see the pitch tomorrow.”
Spin has been New Zealand’s kryptonite in the current World Test Championship [WTC] cycle. They are coming into the series on the back of a 2-0 loss against Sri Lanka, where they lost 37 of their 40 wickets to spinners.
Latham admitted the results in Sri Lanka weren’t ideal but said that New Zealand did manage to do “a lot of good stuff in that tour”. He pointed to the first Test in Galle where New Zealand managed scores of 340 and 211. They were then blown away for 88 in the first innings of the second Test but came back with 360 in the second dig. That didn’t prevent a loss in both Tests though.
“Yeah, obviously results weren’t ideal in Sri Lanka. I think that first Test was a reasonably small margin in terms of the defeat. But we actually did a lot of good stuff in that tour,” Latham said. “It’s obviously easy to look at the result. But I think from a batting point of view, you take away the first innings of the second Test and you know we did a lot of good stuff there.
“We sort of changed our approach a little bit in terms of how we played and just the way things unfolded. And I thought we played really nicely. And, yeah, I guess you come here to India, it’s slightly different conditions.
“So hopefully it offers a little bit more here in India for the seamers. And then, you know, potentially later on in the next couple of Test matches, spin might play a little bit more of a factor.”
This is Latham’s first assignment as full-time Test captain – he has led New Zealand in nine Tests previously – after Tim Southee stepped down in the aftermath of the Sri Lanka series. His own form in the WTC 2023-25 cycle has been patchy with 368 runs in 16 innings at 23.00.
“It’s obviously a huge, exciting privilege for me to be in this position,” Latham said. “Regardless of whether I’m captain, not captain, I’m always trying to perform my role as best as I can for the team. And that’s certainly not going to be any different being captain.
“Yep, there’s a little bit more responsibility, but I guess I’m lucky that I’ve been in this position before, have captained here in India before, and have done it back home as well. So I think, like most of the guys, I’m just excited to get into things. It’s been a bit of a build-up for me since, obviously, taking over.”
“We’ve got different guys that play completely different ways. And for us, it’s about letting guys go out and express themselves as much as they can and try to stick to their plans as best they can”
Latham wants his players to stick to their natural game
While aggression and intent have been the flavour of the town in Test cricket, New Zealand have taken a more old-school approach. In their eight Tests in the WTC cycle, they have gone at an average of 3.37 runs an over. While Latham agrees that teams the world over have taken a more aggressive route in Test cricket, he wants his players to do what comes to them naturally.
“Yeah, if you look around the world recently over probably the last 12 months, I think a lot of teams have sort of taken the approach of being a little bit more aggressive and putting bowlers under pressure a little bit more,” he said. “But I think if you look at our team as a whole, everyone’s got a slightly different game plan.
“We’ve got different guys that play completely different ways. And for us, it’s about letting guys go out and express themselves as much as they can and try to stick to their plans as best they can.”
New Zealand have never recorded a series win in India, and Latham admits his side will have to play “really well” to change that record. He is, however, banking on New Zealand’s recent visits to India and their sub-continent expeditions in a bid to force a win in the three-Test series.
“They know how to play in their own conditions,” Latham said. “And I think when you look at India as a whole, you obviously look at the spinners when you come over these conditions. But they’ve got just as equally good seam attack in terms of [Jasprit] Bumrah, [Mohammed] Siraj, obviously [Akash] Deep, who’s played the last couple of Test matches against Bangladesh.
“So just a well-rounded side from a bowling point of view. They have a lot of match-winners that can take a game away from you pretty quickly.
“We’re obviously going to have to play really well. We’re looking forward to the challenge. And hopefully we can lean back on the experiences that we’ve had here the last couple of times that we’ve toured.”
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
