We play with a bit of freedom and no fear in Tests against India: Latham

New Delhi, Oct 11 (IANS) Tom Latham, New Zealand’s new Test skipper, said he wishes for his team to play with a bit of freedom and no fear in their upcoming three-match series against India.

Latham was appointed as New Zealand’s new Test captain after Tim Southee stood down following the 2-0 series defeat in Sri Lanka last month. Latham-led New Zealand will play three Tests in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai from October 16 to November 5.

“From my point of view it’s about trying to continue doing the good stuff we’ve been doing, trying to put my spin on things. It’s an exciting challenging going over to India and once we can go over there hopefully (we can) play with a bit of freedom, bit of no fear and try and take it to them. If we do that hopefully gives ourselves a good chance,” said Latham to reporters before departing for India at the Christchurch Airport.

New Zealand last won a Test match in India in 1988, and their last trip in the country saw draw in a thriller at Kanpur, before losing in Mumbai, despite Ajaz Patel’s 10 wickets in an innings. The trip to India marks Latham’s full-time stint in the top job after previously taking on the role when Kane Williamson wasn’t available from 2020 to 2022.

“Will certainly be leaning on those experiences. Obviously a different situation being full-time where you can put your own spin on things but think what I want to do is encourage guys to be themselves, be leaders amongst themselves as well and hopefully if we can do that we can play the brand of cricket we want to play.”

“Think in India we’ve seen teams that have done well out there in the past have been quite aggressive towards them, especially with the bat they’ve looked to play a few shots, but also put them under pressure which is really important over there rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen.”

“We’ll decide on how we want to play when we get over there, but guys have got plans around how they like to approach things and hopefully we can fine tune those. We actually did some really good things in Sri Lanka. We fell on the wrong sides of the results but there were some good things.”

“The approach we had with the bat, apart from that one innings I thought we played really well. So it’s about continuing that as much as we can and trying to play a brand that we are proud of playing and if we do that hopefully it gives us a good chance,” added Latham, the left-handed batter.

Latham signed off by saying he would be eager to tap into veteran pacer and former skipper Tim Southee’s knowledge of playing Tests in Indian conditions. Southee, despite a lean run in the Tests in past year, is expected to lead the bowling attack comprising of Will O’Rourke, Matt Henry and Ben Sears.

“If you look back, think in Bangalore (Southee) took seven wickets last time we toured there. Someone with that amount of experience who’s done it for many years there’s certainly no reason why he can’t get back to where he’s been in the past. He’s been a fantastic bowler for us for many years, there’s a reason why he’s so high on the wicket list for New Zealand.”

“He’ll have a similar role that he has always had whether it’s as captain or in the past, someone like that who has a wealth of experience, a wealth of knowledge in all conditions and he’s done it for many years and has been successful. We’ll certainly be tapping into his mind, his ideas, so looking forward to it.”

–IANS

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